Special Delivery
by coloursonthehills
Summary: Natsu's feeling down about his recent breakup. However, a cute delivery girl might be just the thing he needs. A no longer short, but still sweet! Nalu fanfic, AU college.
1. special delivery

**I do not own Fairy Tail!**

 **For those of you who don't know what Deliveroo is- it's a bicycle food delivery service, with various participating restaurants. The employees always have this one uniform, and more often than not are young/students. This is a little story that popped into my head about getting more of a delivery than you bargained for! Thank you for reading, hope you enjoy it :)**

 **UPDATE: Companion piece now published! Go to 'Special Delivery: Girl's Night' for Lucy's side of the story! Thank you for all of the nice reviews, you guys rock!**

Special Delivery

Saturday night. Date night.

Natsu Dragneel was sitting cross-legged on his desk chair, occasionally grabbing the table edge and re-swivelling himself back to facing the screen. His attention was completely focused on his messenger feed, where minutes ago he'd posted the most casual line possible to his group chat- 'Yo guys. Wanna hang?' He watched in nervousness as those three grey dots blinked at him.

 **Ice Princess** – sorry man. I'm hanging with Juvia tonight. I would invite you- if I had a death wish.

Natsu sighed. Since his recent breakup with Lisanna Strauss, he'd been struggling to stay cool in a group where nobody else was single. Well, except for Loke. Who was always single, yet strangely not single at the same time.

 **ElfMAN** \- Bro, promised to take Evergreen to see that new chick flick. So. Not. Man. But can't get out of it! Ah, gotta go

Natsu sank even lower in his chair, which automatically swivelled round to the left. At a ping from his laptop, he hauled himself frontwards again.

 **LadiezLeo** \- I could hang!

Natsu perked up slightly.

 **LadiezLeo** \- I need a wingman anyway. Come to Fairy Tail with me! It'll be fun ;)

Natsu perked down again. Loke (he'd chosen his own chat nickname, and no-one had had the heart to think of something less cringey) was always hitting up the next hot bar, looking to meet new girls. Natsu just didn't know if he felt like it tonight. He was more of a pizza and video games kinda guy in the first place, He doubted that the latest student hangout, Fairy Tail, would be his scene. He painstakingly typed his reply.

 **Fire Breath** \- (Grey had chosen the nickname)- Thanks Loke, but Im not rly fleeing it today

 **Fire Breath** \- Crud. Feeling it

 **Ice Princess** \- *I'm

 **Fire Breath** \- Shut up.

 **Ice Princess** \- Didn't say anything! Anyways I'm off, Juvia just got here

 **LadiezLeo** \- Me too man, guestlist closes at 10. Laters

As his friends went offline, Natsu felt even more down. He caught sight of the only group member with a green dot next to his name, and tried one last time.

 **Fire Breath** \- Jellal! How bout u? Watcha doin now?

Seconds went by. Minutes. Hours. Well not really, but it felt like hours. Natsu eventually gave up and closed his screen. Jellal was a hard man to get a hold of.

Admitting defeat, he got out his phone to order takeaway. Since he was alone, he might as well get some of his favourite fire chicken, which none of his friends had ever been able to handle. Clicking through the order on the Deliveroo app, he secured his meal, and resorted to solo Netflix for his Saturday night plans.

...

The bell rung about 40 minutes later. Midway through an episode of a new anime, Natsu hit pause and went downstairs to the entrance of his halls.

He did a double take when he got there, at what he saw through the glass door pane. A blond ponytail was pulled through the black baseball cap that was the standard issue uniform for deliveroo employees. Except on this girl, it didn't look like uniform. Her long legs were golden and super visible with the tiny black shorts, her form totally noticeable in the tiny black tshirt.

"Hi. Did you make an order?"

One hand was balancing her bicycle, the other holding the strap of the food bag.

"I. Um."

"Fire chicken? From Madame Mira's?" She pressed again.

"I. Yes. Yes I did."

Natsu was pretty sure his cheeks were going as pink as his hair. He hadn't felt this first time attraction for _ages._ Lisanna had been beautiful, but he'd been with her from high school, and the long distance college thing hadn't worked out. He'd stopped feeling that rush when he'd seen her. In fact, looking at this other girl, he wasn't sure he'd ever felt that rush.

The deliveroo girl was already digging through the bag and bringing out his order. She brought it up and looked him straight in the eyes for the first time. He could have sworn she stopped for a second. Did she?

She coughed a little. "That will be… ten fifty, please."

As he dug in his pockets for change (Crap! Why was he wearing his OLDEST sweatpants right now?) he dug deep into his mind for something intelligent to say.

"So! How long have you worked for deliveroo for?"

(Yes, Natsu, yes! Mental self high five.)

She blushed a little, or was he imagining it? "Oh, on and off. I'm a student at St Makarov's actually."

"Seriously? Me too! What's your major?"

"Astrophysics." She smiled, showing some of her very white teeth. "You?"

"Me? Oh, um… I haven't really decided yet. I'm more here for extra curriculars, you know?"

"Like?"

"MMA." She looked slightly blank. "You know- mixed martial arts?"

"Oh, right! That sounds cool."

"Are you kidding? Astrophysics? That sounds a hundred times cooler."

She laughed, and Natsu decided straight away it was one of the best sounds he'd ever heard.

"So what's your name?"

"It's Lucy." She pointed at the name badge for emphasis. Just above her generously proportioned chest. Natsu swallowed and attempted to pull his gaze away.

"I'm Natsu."

Another smile. "Well it was nice to meet you Natsu."

"Yeah!"

They stood there awkwardly for a few moments.

"Ah... well, I better get going. Lots of deliveries to make, you know?"

"Oh yeah. Yeah, sure."

"Be seeing you, then." He thought he could detect a hint of wistfulness in that tone.

"Yes. See you." His own tone was fairly wistful itself.

And then, because she really couldn't afford to hang around any longer, she hopped on her bike and pedalled off.

"Lucy…" Natsu said dreamily, staring after her.

"Lucy… lucy… wait. What's her surname?"

A moment later.

"Crap! I forgot to tip her!"

...

"So you're telling me, you met a cute girl last night and now you can't find her, because you forgot to ask for her full name?"

"Not Manly, man." Elfman shook his massive white head at him, chomping on a pizza slice.

"I can't BELIEVE you. Why didn't you just ask her for her number?" Gray continued in disgust.

"Because I didn't want to seem clingy!" Natsu whined, tearing apart his pizza with savagery. "Or desperate. I needed to be casual. Like you Gray, you're always cool as ice!" He caught himself. "Not that that's a great thing or anything, stripper. Don't let it go to your head."

"While he does have some success with the ladies…" Loke intervened smoothly, "he's not quite as experienced as I am. What did she look like, this girl? What else do you know about her?"

"She was hot."

They all nodded.

"And a student at Makarovs, like us. I think she's majoring in… astrophysics? Loke! Maybe you know her!"

"I do astronomy, not astrophysics. Different departments dumbass."

"Well actually Natsu… maybe you DO have her number."

They all turned to gawk at Jellal.

"Dude, when did YOU show up?"

Jellal ignored this question. "So you met her through deliveroo, right? All you need to do is order from them again. I'm sure at some point she'll come by to give you your order, if she's worked your route before she'll probably do it again."

"Jellal, you're a GENIUS!"

Natsu jumped to his feet, and sped out of the pizza place before any of the guys could even blink.

"What a sad case" Gray said loftily, picking up a pizza slice. "wait- I don't believe it. He left us to get the bill, AGAIN."

...

Natsu ordered takeout every night that week. On the first night, he got a tall red haired girl with nametag that said 'Erza' and a no-nonsense look in her eye.

"Lucy? Why are you asking about Lucy? What do you want with her?" she said menacingly.

"Nothing! No-one! Bye now!" He squeaked, and shut the door in her face.

The next day, he got Gray.

"Say anything to anyone about this, ash for brains, and I'll KILL you." he threatened, as Natsu fell about laughing at the tiny black shorts (though he'd obviously seen Gray in less.)

The day after that, he got Juvia.

"Juvia heard Gray-sama was working for deliveroo so she got a job here too! Isn't that great?" she beamed.

At the end of the week, still no Lucy, Natsu checked his bank balance.

"70 bucks on takeaways?!"

Clearly, this endeavour was unsustainable, for the health of his account. With a heavy heart, Natsu sloped off to Fairy Tail the following Saturday night.

...

"Cheer up man! It can't be that bad!" Loke said happily, each arm around a different girl. In comparison, Natsu was sitting across the table from him, looking forlorn.

"What's wrong hun?" Girl A (Natsu had too terrible a memory to attempt a real name) asked in concern.

"I met this girl."

The two of them nodded in sympathy, while Loke just looked bored.

A second later, something else piqued his interest.

"Hang on a sec guys- I'll be right back."

He slipped out of the booth, and minutes later Girl A and B had gone too, leaving Natsu slurping his (pink) cocktail alone. He turned at the sounds of raised voices.

"Look, I don't know who you are and why you think you know me, but seriously. Stay away from me you creep!"

The subject of the tirade was none other than Loke, who was trying to placate the irate blond, inwardly questioning why even a friendly approach from him came off as creepy.

Natsu started at that voice, and was up and out of the booth in seconds.

"Hey." Loke turned at Natsu's dangerous tone. "Can we help you?" He glared at the playboy, as if he'd suddenly forgotten this was one of his best friends. Loke caught on.

"If you've got a problem, let's take it outside."

"What the f are you on about, you crazy-"

Loke firmly steered Natsu away from the scene, where the blond was trying to look behind him to see who her saviour was.

...

In the alley outside Fairy Tail: " What are you DOING, you creep?"

"That hurts, Natsu." Loke put his hand up to his wounded heart. "Here I am, just having found the girl of your dreams, and all you want to do is fight me?"

"So that is her? It's really Lucy?"

"Sure as day. Now get in there and pretend you beat me up."

"I could _actually_ beat you up," Natsu offered, getting into it.

"No, really. Pretending is enough. Now go on in."

...

"Natsu? Is that you?"

He whirled at that voice, taking in that face, those lips, that body-

"Uh yes! Yes! You remember me." He smiled, quite pleased.

"It was nice what you just did for me." He kept grinning. Until he got a slap in the arm.

"But I didn't need you to. I can take care of myself. I'm not your girlfriend or anything."

"But you could be!"

Silence from the blond. A wide eyed stare.

"Um, I mean. I'd like you to be. Um. Would you like to go out some time?"

She smiled slightly.

"Let's get a drink and we can talk about it."

END


	2. first date

**I've written another chapter! And this one is like twice the length of the first!**

 **I really didn't know whether to continue this story- I felt like the first chapter was like a little story in itself. But people have liked it, so I've decided to continue into the world of this Lucy and Natsu, and it's actually really fun :) I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

 **I don't own fairy tail sadtimes.**

* * *

"So, you finally got a date."

Gray chomped down on a slice of pepperoni, as Elfman dug into his extra deep-pan meat feast with extra meat and manliness. Oh, and a hotdog stuffed crust. Natsu had always wondered who would actually _order_ those.

He himself was sprinkling chilli flakes generously onto his American Hot, while Loke enjoyed some fancy goats cheese and spinach creation, and Jellal stared moodily into his Margherita.

"Don't sound so surprised", Natsu shot back, with a glare. "You're not the only one capable of having a relationship, you know."

"I wouldn't technically call Gray's and Juvia's thing a _relationship_ ," interjected Elfman unexpectedly. "So you hook up every now and then. So what? Be a man Gray. Take her on a real date!"

Gray suddenly got very interested in his pizza, as Natsu and Loke snickered.

"Jellal, what's going on with you?" Gray unsubtly changed the subject. "Been seeing anyone?"

No response from the darkest corner of the table. Everyone looked up to find an empty seat where Jellal had previously been.

"Man I hate it when he does that. It's just so _creepy."_

Loke shook his head, and the others grunted in agreement.

…

As Natsu meandered home from the pizza parlour, his mind turned again to thoughts of Lucy. Man, she was something else. Meeting her at Fairy Tail last weekend really was a stroke of luck, and he could hardly believe he'd managed to get a date out of it. He reminisced over their conversation, the image hazy with seductive smoke, soft with rosy light…

 ***Fairy Tail, last Saturday***

"IT'S A BIT LOUD IN HERE", Lucy yelled over Fairy Tail's thumping bassline, covering her mouth to cough from the effect of the over-zealous smoke machines and dazed by the neon pink strobe flashes.

"WHAT?" Natsu had yelled back. He actually might have heard her, had he been paying attention instead of staring at her face in rapture. And trying very hard not to stare at other parts of her.

In response, Lucy dragged him towards the exit, past the bouncers and out into the cool night air. The chatter of the queue still waiting to get in was a lot quieter than the music inside. She stopped and turned a few metres from the door, dropping his hand (much to his disappointment), and rubbing her own bare arms from the sudden chill of the night air. There was a brief moment of silence as they both just… looked at each other.

"So…" she began shyly. "What you said in there. Did you… mean it?"

Natsu's cheeks heated a little bit as he remembered what he had blurted out. Lucy's defensive _"I'm not your girlfriend or anything!"_ and his knee-jerk reaction, _"But you could be!"_

He fiddled self-consciously. "Well… normally I'd be a bit more subtle about it. But. Yeah." He smiled at her hopefully, and she looked bashful.

"You seem really nice." Natsu's face lit up and he took a step towards her- "but, I don't actually know you very well."

"Oh." Natsu was confused. Dating etiquette was definitely a bit much for his brain to handle.

Lucy continued, "What I mean is- I'd like to get to know you better. Before you go around, er, calling me your girlfriend." She was embarrassed now, he could tell. The situation probably required delicacy. But unfortunately for Lucy, 'delicate' wasn't in Natsu's vocabulary.

"Hey, no big deal," he said with his usual, easy-going charm. "You don't have to call it anything yet. But listen- none of that 'let's just be friends' crap." Her eyes went wide at this, so Natsu went for the kill.

"Lucy," he said sincerely, taking one of her hands. "I know I don't know you very well, but I don't care- I like you. And I want you to know that. So- would you, go on a date with me?"

Her mouth had formed a perfect O, and she looked a little stunned. He was a little stunned himself- he wasn't usually so smooth. Loke must be rubbing off on him. Nevertheless, he waited patiently for her to reply.

"Well… as long as we start by keeping this casual… yes. I'll go out with you."

Outwardly, Natsu beamed, while inwardly, his heart did flips and a victory dance. He walked her back to the club door, noting with no small satisfaction that she hadn't let go of his hand.

…

It had been three days since then, and Natsu was gearing up to contact Lucy to arrange a date. But how should he contact her? He'd gotten her number, so he could call her. But that seemed too intrusive, too personal. Online messenger? Hmm, maybe a bit too _im_ personal. His mind whirred frantically with indecision- Text? Email? Letter? _FAX?_

In the end, he settled for a mobile messenger app, reasoning it was unlikely Lucy owned a fax machine.

 **Natsu D.** Hey

He was about to send another longer message, when to his surprise, he got an immediate reply.

 **Lucy H.** Hey! How're things with you?

He quickly typed a response.

 **Natsu D.** Goof thanks!

He looked at the message as it sent. Well, shit.

 **Natsu D.** *Good

 **Lucy H.** Hahaha

Natsu breathed a sigh of relief; hopefully she didn't think he was a _total_ idiot.

 **Natsu D.** So about that date. You free Saturday night?

 **Lucy H.** Yeah, I think so What did you have in mind?

 **Natsu D.** Do you like Asian food?

 **Lucy H.** MASSIVE fan! Do you know a good place?

 **Natsu D.** So it's actually the place I order from quite a lot. You delivered from there, the first time I met you! You know- Madame Mira's?

He waited anxiously for a message. Lucy was taking a while to reply- he hoped he hadn't been too cheesy bringing up where they'd met.

Just as he was about to pull his perfect pink hair out, he got a response.

 **Lucy H.** Ok, sounds nice! Meet at 7?

YES!

…

On Saturday night, Natsu surveyed himself in the mirror. He usually didn't put too much stock in his appearance, but he didn't want Lucy to think he was a slob. Besides, though Mira's did great takeaway, it was actually a pretty nice place, one couldn't just turn up in sweats.

The bell rung, signalling Lucy's arrival. She'd insisted on collecting him on the way, since his room was closer to the restaurant. This had made sense to Natsu's practical mind but nagged a little at his normally inactive, assumed non-existent, chivalrous side. He grabbed a jacket as an afterthought, and bounded down the stairs.

"Hey Lucy! You look… like, really, great." he finished, lamely. She looked more than great- she was gorgeous, in a short white sundress, blond hair up in a red ribbon, eyes looking particularly chocolatey and warm.

"Thank you!" She said brightly. "You look nice too!" Natsu had black jeans on, and had dug up a collared shirt from somewhere. He still wasn't sure whether it was even his shirt. "Shall we get going?"

On the brief walk to Madame Mira's, Natsu asked Lucy about her day. She mentioned morning lectures ("On a SATURDAY?" Natsu had exclaimed in horror), some exercise, some work, and writing.

"You're writing a book?" He said interestedly.

"Nowhere near finished yet."

"What's it about?"

"Oh, all sorts of things! I love elements of every genre. There's action, romance… I guess it's a fantasy, it's based in a world where people use magic."

She cut off suddenly, as if afraid she'd said too much.

"That sounds AWESOME." Natsu enthused genuinely. He nudged her with his elbow.

"So, if you had a magic power. What would it be?"

"Hmmm, that's a good one. Invisibility?"

"Interesting, but been done before." He snorted. "What else you got?"

She laughed. "What about- the power to control stars?" She looked up at the sky, making an all-encompassing dramatic gesture.

"Now that sounds cool. But what would you do with them?"

"At the very least? I'd make nuclear fusion on earth a reality!"

Natsu looked a little blank, so she hastened to explain.

"It's the process that makes stars burn, basically. Atoms join together, releasing some mass, which converts to energy. You must have heard of E=mc squared, right?"

"Emcee Squared? Is that like, a new DJ or something?"

She laughed really hard, leaving Natsu somewhat mystified, but pleased all the same. He liked the sound of her laugh.

"Burning stuff sounds cool, though," he put in. "I'd totally have the power to create fire!"

"Now who's being unoriginal?" she challenged. "That's basically just the Human Torch in Fantastic Four."

They continued this important debate as they approached the entrance to Mira's, located a little off-campus. Natsu got the door for her in a surprisingly gentlemanly gesture, and they made their way inside.

…

The restaurant was packed, teeming with people at every table. Natsu felt dread settle in his stomach. It hadn't even occurred to him to make a reservation! Damn. It was inevitable, he supposed- his display of boyfriend-worthy traits had had to run out sometime.

"Mira!"

Natsu turned in surprise, to see Lucy waving and calling the proprietor over, a lady with flowing silver-white hair wearing a long, old-fashioned dress.

"Lucy!" Mira swept over to them, gathering the blond in an embrace. "It's so lovely to see you! You just wait right here, I'll get you two a table."

Faster than Natsu could blink, they were being led to a cosy table for two, glowing with a tealight lantern and already holding a steaming traditional pot of tea. It was like someone had whipped it out of the floorboards. Natsu looked around and couldn't see a single other free table.

"Sorry it's a little in the middle of things, we're pretty busy tonight!" Mira said breezily. "The tea's on the house. Have fun!"

Despite being surrounded by tables, their spot was fairly nice. Laughter and happy voices filled the room, and soft music was playing somewhere. Natsu was recovering himself enough from his initial shock to ask Lucy a question.

"So Lucy- you didn't tell me you knew Mira so well."

Was he imagining it, or did she look a little shifty? "Yes, I mean, I've delivered for her before. How could I not know her?" She laughed that tinkling laugh again, making Natsu forget whatever he was about to say.

The date started off well enough. In fact, it was going great. They fell into conversation about TV, books, and news (he was pretty ill informed on the latter in comparison to her, but luckily, she liked to talk), while occasionally catching each others' eye across the table, blushing, and looking away again. At one point, Natsu distinctly felt Lucy's smooth, high-heeled foot brush against his leg. Electricity shot straight through his body, and the words dried up in his throat.

She quickly retracted her leg. "You were saying?"

He stared at her. Did she seriously not know what she was doing to him? Her eyes were downcast, a faint hue tinting her cheeks, looking as innocent as a kitten, but in that way where you just know they've already shredded your curtains.

He cleared his throat loudly. "Uh. Yeah, so. Anime. Like, it's…"

Natsu was saved from having to drag up a plausible dialogue by the timely arrival of a new waitress.

"Lucy, you sly little minx, you didn't tell me the guy was such a HUNK."

A tall brunette, wearing a little less than might be considered appropriate for an establishment such as this one, had placed an over-friendly arm around Lucy's neck, making her yelp and drop her fork.

"CANA. Don't DO that!"

"Do what?" she said innocently, and to Natsu's bemusement, pulling up a chair (that had also seemingly been conjured out of nowhere) to the side of their table. "hug you round the neck? Or call your date a hunk?"

She winked at Natsu at this point, who blinked back, utterly oblivious. Lucy's eyes were narrowing however. "Don't you have some place to be?" she asked pointedly.

As if on cue, Mira's sing song voice drifted across the room. "Cana! Drinks menu for table 7!"

The waitress in question rolled her eyes and stood up. "Honestly, she doesn't let me have any fun." She elbowed Lucy quite unsubtly. "Have a _good_ time, hun. And remember, don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

Then she was off, hips sashaying, balancing a tray full of wineglasses with practiced ease.

"She seems… fun?" Natsu offered.

"Oh yeah. Fabulous." Lucy said drily. But she grinned back anyway. "She's actually pretty great, just a bit… full on, sometimes. Oh, whatever you do though, don't challenge her to a drinking contest."

"I'll keep it in mind!"

They were just starting to get back into conversation, when the table next to them, recently vacated, received a new tenant. Natsu glanced over casually as he sipped his drink, and did a spit take.

"ICE FREAK?"

The subject of the address turned, equally shocked. "FLAME BRAIN? What the hell are you doing here?"

"What does it look like? I'm on a date," Natsu replied irritably. He gestured across his table to Lucy, who waved somewhat lamely at Gray. "What are YOU doing here?" Gray was speechless for a moment, and Natsu caught on. "Wait. Don't tell me you're actually going out with-"

"Juvia is heeeere!"

Beaming brightly, a girl in a blue dress with matching blue hair waltzed over to Gray's table.

"Oh, Natsu, I see you're a fan of Mira's too! So nice to see you here. Gray talks about you so much." Natsu was pretty sure he'd never met this girl in his life. And as for Gray talking about him, he just had no idea what to say.

Gray sunk into his seat in embarrassment, and Lucy stifled a giggle. Natsu salvaged some manners from the depths of his mind.

"Gray, this is Lucy. Lucy, meet Gray."

"Nice to meet you!" She said, encouragingly. Juvia was looking at Gray expectantly.

"Oh. Uh, Natsu, Lucy, this is Juvia. My… date."

The girl in question squealed happily, grabbing Gray's hand across the table and clutching it. Hard. Natsu winced in sympathetic pain.

As Juvia started extolling the highlights of her day, seemingly relating everything back to Gray, (I won the swim tournament! Gray-sama would've been so proud!) it gave Natsu an excuse to turn back to just Lucy.

"Er. Sorry about this." He apologised, quietly. "I really had no idea he'd be here."

"Oh that's ok," she assured him. "It's nice to meet one of your friends!"

"A REAL MAN DOESN'T WAIT FOR A TABLE".

Natsu twisted in his seat in dismay, spotting Elfman's hulking form at the restaurant entrance. A graceful woman was hovering next to him, and Natsu was pretty sure he saw her whack Elfman with her fan.

Mira was standing in front of him, hands on her hips. "Elfman!" She scolded. "Is that any way to treat your big sister?"

"SISTER?!" Natsu echoed loudly. What, was everyone he knew somehow connected to this restaurant?

The lady next to Elfman, supposedly Evergreen, was apologising graciously. "Mira, I'm so sorry I just don't know what to do with him these days." Elfman looked abashed, and muttered "sorry Mira. I get really hangry sometimes."

"Hangry?" Lucy repeated in confusion. Natsu turned back to explain. "Like, a combination of hungry and angry." He was all too familiar with the feeling.

"NATSU!" Elfman roared, spotting him, and Natsu buried his face in his hands. "And Gray! I see you've taken steps to becoming a REAL man!"

Juvia and Lucy looked uncomfortable, as their dates nearly died of awkwardness.

"Excuse me Gray-sama, but Juvia must use the restroom." Juvia made good on her escape while Lucy, too slow to react, looked longingly after her retreating form.

"I'll thank you not to harass my guests, Elfman", Mira said with a twinkle in her eye. Mercifully at this point, a table opened up somewhere, and Elfman and Evergreen were led out of earshot.

"I don't think this night can get any weirder," Natsu grumbled. Suddenly, Lucy gasped. He looked up to see her covering her eyes, and then to his right, where Gray was casually unbuttoning his shirt.

"GRAY!" Natsu hissed. "YOUR CLOTHES!"

"Oh my", Cana drawled as she approached with their drinks order. "Dinner _and_ a show."

To Lucy and Natsu's horror, she promptly occupied Juvia's vacated seat. "Anything else I can get you, mister?" She said coyly to Gray, who broke out in a sweat and looked desperately around for his misplaced clothing.

Juvia chose this opportune moment to return from the restroom. "Gray-sama, Juvia is- oh."

The stare directed at Cana was so murderous, Lucy wondered why she hadn't died on the spot.

"Oh hey, honey. Just taking in the view." Cana grinned rakishly and showed no signs of getting up. A split second later, she was shrieking, hair drenched in water. Juvia was holding a glass quite innocently.

"Oops! So sorry, Juvia has no clue how that happened!"

Cana stared at her in surprise. Then she started to chortle. "You're feisty. I like that," she patted Juvia's arm good naturedly as she rose. "Have a great evening!"

Still chuckling, she wandered off with her tray.

"Lucy- you can look now", Natsu said hurriedly. Gray had managed to locate his shirt and was buttoning it back up, looking stressed.

Her eyes appeared, peeking between her fingers, as she relaxed. "I've really got to talk to Cana about doing that," she sighed, and Natsu laughed.

They were nearing the end of their meal, dessert arriving as Gray and Juvia's main course did. While keeping up a friendly banter with Lucy, Natsu couldn't help one ear being on Gray's table. This Juvia girl did NOT stop talking about Gray! As far as Natsu could tell, she was clingy, obsessive, and a borderline stalker. He just couldn't understand what Gray saw in her. He glanced up from his dessert at Lucy, who was looking uncomfortable again.

"Wha-?" Turning to his right, Natsu understood what Gray saw in her. The two of them had lips locked across the table, kissing passionately. He was pretty sure he saw Juvia's hand creeping up Gray's knee, and he promptly looked away.

"Erm… can we get the bill please?" he said weakly to a passing waitress.

Lucy and Natsu escaped the overly PDA couple quickly, splitting the bill as Lucy had insisted. By mutual, silent agreement, they hurried to the exit. Alas, fate was not to let them off so easily.

"I've finished my shift, Mira," came a loud, authoritative voice, as a redhead in familiar black shorts and top sporting a green kangaroo logo strode into the restaurant.

"Erza." Lucy said faintly, collapsing against Natsu's shoulder. This preoccupied him until he recognised the presence bearing down on them.

"Pink haired boy." Erza stated, as Natsu and Lucy clung to each other. "I see you tracked her down. Good. Remember, if you hurt Lucy, you'll have ME to answer to."

"Yyy-yes ma'am", they stammered out, and Erza drew herself up and stalked onwards.

Natsu breathed a sigh of relief. "She's gone. Oh my god. I think the only person I still haven't seen tonight is Loke."

"YOU!"

Lucy yelled out unexpectedly at a figure who had just entered the restaurant. Natsu just had time to spot a dark suit and tinted glasses, before said glasses went flying across the room due to a resounding slap.

…

"I am sooooo sorry."

Lucy could not stop apologising for hitting one of Natsu's best friends, hard across the face. "He was just, SO creepy when I saw him at Fairy Tail last week, I had a totally impulsive reaction. I am super, super sorry."

Lucy and Natsu had exited Madame Mira's quite rapidly following the Loke incident. Natsu had broken up the building fight as efficiently as possible, explaining to Lucy hurriedly that Loke was a friend and that there had been some sort of misunderstanding.

They were now walking back down the pathway leading from Mira's.

"Don't worry about it," he assured her for the hundredth time. "Trust me, this actually happens to Loke fairly frequently. I'm sure his face must have lost all nerve endings a long time ago from being slapped by women."

Lucy let out a laugh but still looked guilty.

"I just don't know what came over me," she fretted. "I- oh noooo!"

"What, what is it?" Natsu jumped on high alert, something in her voice kindling a primitive instinct in him to provide and protect.

She was looking miserable. "I forgot my jacket." She explained, and shivered as a gust of autumn wind made its way across her back. "I was just in such a hurry to get out of there… oh my goodness, I just don't think I can face that restaurant again."

Her comment about wanting to get out of there had deflated Natsu's mood a bit further. He was obviously of the same mind, given Gray and Juvia's enthusiastic display, but he hoped that Lucy didn't want to get away from him as well.

"Hey, don't worry", he placed a comforting arm on Lucy's shoulder. And let it linger. Just a bit. "I'll go back in and get it for you."

"Really?" Lucy looked up at him, like he was a knight on a white stallion, clad in full armour and ready to go to battle for her. "Would you?"

"Sure!" he smiled down at her affectionately, as they turned and started back up the path. He stopped a moment, with a thought. Then shrugged off his jacket and draped it around her shoulders.

It completely swamped her, and something warm ignited in him seeing her wear it. She looked totally adorable. The expression on her face was so beautiful, he wanted nothing but to bring his own closer to it.

The moment was predictably, and irrevocably, ruined. He was distracted by a flash of red and blue out of the corner of his eye. Peering closer, as Lucy also noticed, they gasped in simultaneous recognition of the couple entwined almost, but not quite out of sight, behind a tree.

"ERZA?!" "JELLAL?!"

The two sprang apart hastily.

"Lucy! And Natsu! How, how..."

In all the time Lucy had known her, she had never seen Erza at a loss for words.

"How nice to see you." She settled on eventually, becoming gradually less flustered.

Natsu made the next move. "How's it going, Jellal?" He ventured nervously. "Dude, we like, never see you anymore!"

"…Yes." Jellal responded.

They all stood there looking at each other.

"Well, you're clearly both occupied right now, so…" Lucy cringed inside as she said it, as Jellal, Erza and Natsu all avoided eye contact, "um, be seeing you!"

With that, she darted back down the path towards the main road. Natsu looked after her disappearing form, then remembered what he was meant to be doing, and took off back into the restaurant to retrieve Lucy's jacket.

…

Lucy's jacket in hand, Natsu exited the restaurant again, with growing, genuine concerns in his mind that Lucy may have just run away. And then he'd have to wear HER jacket. His fears proved unfounded, as he spotted her waiting nervously at the end of the path.

"Oh great, you got it," she said, and started to shrug off his coat. Before he realised what he was doing, he'd put out an arm to stop her.

"Keep it on." He struggled to come up with a non-weird reason why he would have said that. "It's... probably warmer than yours. And I'm totally fine, I never feel the cold!"

Crisis averted.

She blushed again, but made no further efforts to remove his coat.

They walked back in mostly companionable silence, both unwilling to bring up the various appearances of their friends that night. Natsu's mind was attempting unsuccessfully to simultaneously handle the worry that the date had gone absolutely terribly, the delight at seeing her wear his jacket, and the desire to just be close to her.

They reached his apartment.

"Sure I can't walk you home?" He said, softly.

"I'm ok. Really." She smiled at him, but he couldn't help feeling defeated.

"Hey."

He looked up at her voice. She was lit by the full moon, eyes soft, hair framing her face like a silver glow.

"I had a really nice time tonight."

Natsu was dumbstruck. Was she just being polite?

She stepped closer to him, and before he could react, her arms were round his neck, cheek resting on his shoulder. He flapped for a second with his own arms, where the heck was he supposed to put them, and she smelled so good, her skin so impossibly smooth-

She was about to step back again when Natsu caught her round he waist, finally returning the hug, not a second to soon.

"I had a nice time too," he said huskily, managing to find his voice.

Reluctantly, he let her go. She took his jacket off, handing it back to him and exchanging it for her own.

"Goodnight, Natsu," she said with a smile, turning and starting away down the road.

"Goodnight! Lucy" Natsu called back, saying her name to himself as he watched her go.

* * *

 **TBC :)**


	3. netflix and chill

**This chapter was really fun to write! It's more Natsu-and-Lucy-centric, but don't worry, the gang'll be back in full force shortly!**

 **Please let me know if you like it, would love to have some reviews :) Thank you so much to everyone who's followed and favourited! As always, hope my writing makes you happy.**

 **Still don't own Fairy Tail :/**

* * *

Natsu couldn't remember what he'd done with his time before he'd met Lucy.

He'd been messaging her constantly, always chatting about random things or asking how her day had gone. It had been a few days since their first date, but he hadn't gone more than a few hours without being in contact with her. She could be totally hilarious sometimes, and he hoped that whatever he sent her also made her smile; he'd forward her comic strips and funny links, she'd respond with memes and cute emojis. He found himself looking forward to checking his phone, to the point where it was almost addictive, getting that warmth in his chest when he saw a message from her.

It was Thursday afternoon, and Natsu's phone pinged as he was unlocking his room door. He checked it eagerly.

 **Lucy H.** Are you doing anything tomorrow? x

He'd often meet the guys to play videogames on a Friday, but if there was a chance for a date with Lucy- screw them.

 **Natsu D.** Nah, no plans! x

Natsu had been cautiously playing what he'd termed the 'x' game. Since there seemed to be no official rules, (yes- he'd googled it to check), he'd resolved to respond to Lucy's messages with at least as many kisses as she'd put in hers.

 **Lucy H.** Want to meet up?

Ah- no more x's, he noted. Time to reply accordingly.

 **Natsu D.** Yeah! What do you want to do?

 **Lucy H.** Go to a movie maybe? I think some good stuff got released recently

A movie? Yes! That was _definitely_ a second date.

 **Natsu D.** Sounds perfect!

 **Lucy H.** Awesome! I'm looking forward to seeing you

Natsu got a weird fluttery feeling in his stomach. This had been happening worryingly often.

 **Natsu D.** Me too

 **Lucy H.** I gotta go for now, report submission crisis! But I'll see you tomorrow, meet you at like 8 at the cinema in the plaza?

 **Natsu D.** 'K good luck!

 **Lucy H.** Bye xxx

Natsu stared at the phone in panic. Three kisses! And he hadn't sent her any! He hastily typed something in and sent it.

 **Natsu D.** c I xxx

He looked at the screen in horror.

 **Natsu D.** * c u xxx

Great, now he'd sent double the number of x's. He groaned. Flirting was _stressful._

…

"Sup, flame breath."

Natsu jerked upright, having almost nodded off only a few minutes into his History lecture. Gray had just slid into the seat beside him, late as usual.

"Shut up." Natsu hissed, more out of habit than anything else. But seeing Gray's smug smirk was starting to stir up memories of his and Lucy's eventful date at Madame Mira's last weekend. With the way Gray and Juvia had been going at it, Natsu had been surprised Mira hadn't thrown them out.

"So how'd the date go last week? You guys left pretty quickly," Gray whispered obnoxiously.

"No thanks to you," Natsu furiously whispered back. "Can't you keep it in your pants, ice dick?"

The drone of the lecturer was abruptly halted, Natsu and Gray both noticing the sudden silence. They looked towards the front of the room, where the lecturer- a short, stocky man with wild orange hair and a blindingly white suit- was glaring at the two of them.

Having got their attention, the lecture meaningfully cleared his throat and continued with his monologue. "Back to this topic of high importance. The medieval aristocracy developed a penchant for _parfum,_ displaying their wealth and hygiene in comparison to peasants…"

Natsu glared sideways evils at Gray. "This isn't over, snow cone."

"Settle it in MMA then, pyro."

…

The training for Makarov's official MMA squad took place every Friday afternoon. It was largely through this extra curricular that Natsu had met his current group of friends. Loke dropped by sometimes but tended not to spar often (too risky for his gorgeous visage, he often said). Jellal was a regular, and though he didn't stick around and talk much, you could always count on him being there for a match. Elfman obviously considered it manly. Like Natsu, Gray had been doing this for years in his hometown. They got on well at the best of times, and Natsu would definitely count him as one of his closest friends. But, given their backgrounds, it was inevitable that they'd get a bit… competitive.

And right now, as well as harbouring natural competitiveness- Natsu was pissed.

"You're in for it now, Gray." Natsu taunted as he bound up his gloves. "I can't BELIEVE how ridiculously PDA you and Juvia were last weekend. It's seriously unpleasant dude."

"You're just jealous," Gray replied easily, also preparing for the match. "'Cause you're not getting any."

"Maybe I am, and I just don't like showing off to the entire world." Natsu growled in return.

"Oh please. You haven't even kissed her. You're such a loser."

At this point, Natsu saw red.

"So what if we haven't kissed yet? We've been on one date! Don't you dare talk about Lucy like that!"

"Like _what,_ man? I didn't say anything about her!"

It was too late for Gray to rectify his offhand comment though.

"YOU'RE GONNA PAY!"

The bell went, and Natsu went for the face.

…

"So let me get this straight."

Lucy's gorgeous, sweet, beautiful voice came out of his phone speaker dripping with disbelief.

"You want to cancel our date… because your foot hurts?!"

Natsu adjusted his hot water bottle, wincing. He'd fought like a demon, but Gray had gotten in some seriously good kicks and punches. Hilariously, he was pretty sure the injury preventing him from going out had been self-inflicted. He'd been so pumped to fight, he'd forgotten to stretch, and one of his moves in the match had pulled a foot muscle somewhere. He literally could not walk- it was a miracle he'd made it back to his room at all.

"Listen, I know it sounds bad," Natsu said into the phone, "I honestly wouldn't do this unless I really, really had to. And trust me," he looked sadly at his foot, "I really have to."

There was a brief silence from the other end of the phone. Natsu listened anxiously.

"It's a shame," Lucy finally sighed. "I really wanted to see you."

"Me too," he said quickly. "I am so sorry to do this."

Another pause. Then,

"How about I come over?"

What? What did she just say?

"I mean, if it's not too much trouble or anything."

Oh my god. Did she really just say that.

"It was a stupid suggestion. Forget it."

Wait. No. Nonononono

Natsu spoke hurriedly, "No! It isn't stupid. I mean- I would really like to see you. I'd love to have you over. If you want to come. I have Netflix!" he finished, somewhat desperately.

"Well.." she said shyly. "Ok. Sure! Hey, do you need anything? Can I grab you some medicine, or ice cream, or whatever?"

"I'm good. Um- but ice cream sounds pretty great."

She laughed. "Alright, I'll see you in about an hour then."

"See you!" he echoed enthusiastically as she hung up.

He caught sight of himself in the mirror across his room. More specifically, he caught sight of the damage Gray had inflicted on him- there was a conspicuous, blooming purple bruise across one cheekbone, as well as plenty of other tender spots on his body. He sighed a little to himself. "Hope this doesn't put Lucy off," he muttered. Then he caught sight of the wider bomb site that was the state of his room.

"CRAP. I have a LOT of cleaning to do."

…

Somehow, despite his painful foot, Natsu had managed to drag himself around enough to grab all his discarded clothes and shove them in a cupboard. Various pizza boxes and other miscellaneous ex-food containers had been dumped in the bin in the kitchen down the hall, and he'd opened his windows in a bid to air out the place a bit. He was just straightening up his bed when there was a buzz at the door.

He limped to the intercom and pressed the button for the front door to his student hall building. "Come on up!" he yelled down the line.

The next few minutes were incredibly tense, as Natsu looked frantically round the much-improved room for anything he might have missed. There was a knock at the door.

He opened it slowly, revealing the beautiful eyes and smiling face of Lucy Heartfilia. She was wearing one of her characteristic little skirts with a matching top, as well as a jacket and some long boots to combat the cold outside. Best of all, she was carrying a totally mismatched blue plastic bag, displaying the obvious shape of an ice cream tub.

"I brought ice cream!" she held up the bag happily. If she'd noticed the bruise on his face, she was doing a good job of not showing it. "How's the foot doing?"

Natsu was a bit busy staring at her, but shook himself to reply. "A little better, I think. The hot water bottle's been helping. And hey, I'm sure the ice cream will help even more!"

She giggled. "So, you want a spoon for this, or are you gonna claw it out with your bare hands?"

"I'm not a total savage." For some weird reason, his voice took on an involuntary husky tone as he said this. He saw Lucy's reaction immediately in the redness invading her cheeks. He cleared his throat. "Kitchen's down the hall. Oh, I've got some popcorn too, if you want?"

She agreed, and took a bag of microwave popcorn from him, walking relatively swiftly away down the hall.

When she returned, Natsu had set up his laptop on his desk, with his sofa dragged over to face it. He was lucky enough to have one in his student room- some of the buildings at Makarov's were pretty old, the rooms from back when fancy rich people were the only ones who could attend college, and the style of furnishings had sort of travelled over to the more modern blocks.

"Is this ok?" he asked her anxiously, but if anything, she seemed delighted. He thought he saw her eyes shift over to the bed before snapping back again.

"Oh yeah, yes, this is great!" she enthused, appearing to relax a little.

They settled on opposite ends of the couch, with a healthy amount of space between them. Natsu was hyperaware of Lucy's proximity, and in the enclosed space, her vanilla scent was already starting to spread and encompass his senses. Out of the corner of his eye, she saw her lean forward to unzip her knee high boots. He silky skin was revealed painstakingly slowly as she pulled each zip down, and he could hear her small sighs of pleasure as she finally got the heels off her small, delicate feet.

"Any ideas on what to watch?" his voice came out sounding strangled to his ears. He subtly pinched himself to try and clear his head.

"Um…" she leaned forward to where he was at the desk. Her smooth forearms brushed his, resting on his keyboard, as she reached for the mouse. Natsu went completely still- trying to focus on keeping his breathing steady.

Her hair brushed the side of his neck.

"How about this one?" she suggested softly. He blinked and looked at the screen properly. At this point, he didn't even care what they watched- he just wanted some kind of relief from this slow torture.

Luckily for him, it looked like a good movie- a science fiction he'd been meaning to see but hadn't got round to.

"Looks good," he replied, his own voice unfamiliar to his ears. He hadn't dared to move from his position at the keyboard- her forearms were still in contact with his own. He glanced at them, and noticed the golden hairs on her skin standing up.

"Cold?" he asked without thinking.

"Oh," she said, flustered. "Um… no. No, I'm ok."

"I have a spare blanket," he offered. She blinked, like a startled fawn, and turned her head towards the bed again, where a neatly folded and comfy looking blanket sat innocently on the pillow.

"Ah. Ok. Yes. Thanks, Natsu."

To Natsu's relief and disappointment, she left her position at the desk, hair brushing past his cheek as she went to retrieve the blanket. She returned and settled down as Natsu switched off the main light, keeping on a warm yellow bedside lamp, and hit play on the movie.

…

Given the almost painful tension Natsu had felt at the start of this date, one would expect a situation where the two sat in a charged silence, conscious of each other's very breath, too nervous to speak, hearts racing with anticipation.

In fact, quite the opposite had happened.

"For God's sake, get OVER YOURSELVES," Lucy yelled at the screen, flicking popcorn at it as Natsu snorted with laughter.

She'd been interjecting hilarious comments all the way through the film, with Natsu also chiming in between laughing fits. So far, Lucy had pointed out several fundamental flaws with the plot and many very sensible questions, "why the hell is that guy not teleporting? Why does anyone walk anywhere in this movie?"

Right now, a sentimental scene had been reached, the romantic interests of the story finally gearing up to confess their feelings to each other. Needless to say, the screenwriting was not having the desired effect on the film's current viewers.

"What are _you_ laughing at?" Lucy queried Natsu haughtily, flicking popcorn at him instead. "It's true! Those two idiots are dragging this out so unnecessarily. Look, there are aliens like, one minute away. They are literally ABOUT TO DIE."

Natsu laughed even harder, and when she threw more popcorn at him, he recovered himself enough to cheekily catch it in his mouth.

"Is that a talent you have, or was it just a fluke?" Lucy challenged with a grin.

"Try me," Natsu grinned back.

And just like that, she was throwing popcorn at him, him trying to catch it while both were dissolving into giggles.

"You're not throwing them right," Natsu protested as he missed another one. "Look, give it here." He grabbed for the bowl, which she protected by reflex, ending up in him crawling partially on top of her legs, folded under the blanket, while she held the bowl out of reach.

Needless to say, the bowl did not survive.

"Just.. look! Look at what you did!" Lucy was practically crying with laughter, while making the accusation.

"Me? This is SO your fault." He gazed a little forlornly at the popcorn on the floor.

"Unfortunately, I think only the burnt bits survived", Lucy commented, peering into the bowl.

"Great! They're my favourite!"

Lucy looked at him in slight bemusement has he devoured the burnt popcorn with gusto. He looked up, and his eyes happened to catch the laptop screen, where the main characters were locked in a passionate embrace.

"Oh. Well that escalated quickly."

This comment set Lucy off into fresh peals of laughter.

"Maybe we should rewind."

Natsu got up to hit pause, and shivered suddenly. He noticed he'd forgotten to close the windows from earlier, and he limped over to them.

"Are you cold?" Lucy asked from the couch. She had calmed down and was sounding slightly more sane.

"I told you," Natsu said with false bravado, "I never feel the cold!"

"We can share," she offered, holding up the corner of the (now slightly popcorn-covered) blanket.

Natsu smiled. "Alright."

He made his way gingerly back to the couch, and scooted a bit closer to her than he'd been sitting before. They needed to huddle up a little bit for the blanket to cover them both. Natsu's jean-clad leg was flush with Lucy's bare one, until she folded her legs under her again and leaned back. They were shoulder to shoulder.

"On with the movie then?" he said jauntily, trying to stem the butterflies in his tummy.

She turned her head towards him as she smiled. Their faces were dangerously close. "Yeah, let's finish this thing. Only a half hour left I reckon!"

He hit play again, and settled back onto the couch, Lucy's delectable form just touching his side.

…

Two minutes in, and Natsu was already going crazy.

He was having a very hard time keeping his hands to himself. One arm, on the non-Lucy side, was comfortably resting by his leg. The other was twisted rather uncomfortably, to rest his hand on his own lap. It twitched. It wanted nothing more than to rest further afield, preferably at his side like the other arm, so his aching shoulder could stay in a normal position. Problem was, right in the space Natsu's hand naturally would have rested, was Lucy's creamy, gorgeous, thigh.

She'd curled her legs up onto the couch, knees barely touching the side of Natsu's own leg. Her skirt had ridden up _ever_ so slightly. Not that he could see much, the blanket was doing a reasonable job.

There were only three choices available to him now.

One: suck it up and be really uncomfortable for at least another half hour.

Two: place hand on Lucy's thigh.

Three: place arm around Lucy's shoulders.

He weighed up his options mentally. A difficult feat, for Natsu.

He wasn't all that keen on just letting it go- his shoulder was really starting to cramp, and he could hardly afford another injury on top of his ridiculous foot problem. Though option two sounded incredibly appealing to him, he doubted Lucy would be wild about the idea. That just left option three.

Before he could change his mind, totally spontaneously and with as much natural grace has he could muster, Natsu adjusted his body, slipping his other arm around Lucy's back.

He felt her tense immediately. Neither of them moved.

"Is this… ok?" He said, feeling it needed to be addressed, since she still hadn't relaxed her posture.

There was a long pause… and she finally sat back, resting her weight on Natsu's arm. His bare skin was touching her silky hair and the warmth of the back of her neck.

"It's ok," he heard her breathe. She was still looking at the screen studiously. Natsu silently sighed in relief, allowing himself to relax and enjoy having Lucy's body nestled into his. Over the course of the rest of the movie, natural micro-adjustments occurred from both involved parties, leading to the extremely comfortable position they found themselves in as the credits started to roll.

Neither of them made a move to get out of it.

"That was pretty decent", Lucy offered, sleepily. Natsu yawned a little in response.

"Man I'm tired," he commented, leaning even further back into the cushions, Lucy's warm weight an extremely pleasant feeling on his torso.

"Mmm," she murmured. Her head was resting on his shoulder, still facing forwards at the screen. "maybe I should head off."

She twisted around to look at him, body still lazily half on top of his. It was a mistake. Natsu's face was infinitely closer to hers than she'd been expecting, his coal grey eyes staring into hers intently. Her breath hitched, and despite the strained angled of her neck, she didn't dare to move.

Natsu, for his part, was going insane with her scent. And when she looked at him, he realised just how close their noses were. Instinct was starting to override any coherent thought.

She didn't move as he slowly, millimetre by millimetre, closed the gap between them.

Natsu groaned in his throat at the feeling of Lucy's soft lips on his own. He hovered momentarily; uncertainly; but she wasn't pulling away. Afraid he'd gone too far, in a rare moment of clarity, he pulled back and opened his eyes.

Hers were wide open, staring at him. He was worried he'd done something wrong. Was she mad at him?

Before he could process his concerns though, her eyes had fluttered closed, and she'd leaned up, pressing her lips onto his.

…

He felt like he was on fire.

Lucy's body had ended up sort of almost covering his, as she'd turned to relieve the uncomfortable angle of her neck. Now he was basically on his back, Lucy's tongue gently probing his mouth, as he opened up to her willingly. His hands gripped her waist, resisting the temptation to move south. He couldn't stand the muted noises that came from her, small little moans that were silenced before they made it past her lips.

With a growl, he deftly flipped her over, so he was kneeling on the couch, supporting his weight so he didn't crush her beautiful, perfect body. He carried on kissing her, lips then moving down the inviting column of her throat.

"Natsu," she let out, breathlessly, and the sound made even more flames erupt somewhere deep in his body.

He drew back temporarily to gaze down at her. "You're so beautiful, Luce," he said, honestly. Her cheeks had flushed a deep crimson, and she looked back at him with her expressive brown eyes. She didn't respond with words. Instead, she brought an arm up to seize his face and bring it back down to kiss her.

"OW."

Natsu yelled out in pain as her fingers jabbed straight at his cheekbone- right into the bruise Gray had given him earlier.

Lucy looked horrified.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" She struggled to sit up. The blanket, which had gotten tangled between them at some point, was pulled sideways, sending Natsu crashing to the floor. His head knocked the desk leg.

"OW!"

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" Lucy cried hopelessly, attempting to help Natsu up.

"It's ok, don't worry about it," Natsu assured her with a grin. He sat up, rubbing his head. "Everyone says I have a thick skull, look it's come in handy!"

"I really didn't mean to hurt you. I forgot you had a bruise there. I hope you're ok. Are you ok? Please forgive me!" she babbled.

"Really, I'm fine." Natsu plonked himself back on the couch.

She looked at him nervously.

"Are you sure? I'm sorry. I had better go."

" No no, it's ok-"

She was already up and zipping her boots back on, fumbling for her jacket. "I really am sorry, and thank you for having me, I'll see you later sometime-"

"Hey Luce, wait up!"

But she was not to be dissuaded. She hurried towards the door. "Bye Natsu. Hope your foot recovers soon, and your, um, bruise, oh god…"

Natsu was attempting to extricate himself from the blankets and follow her, but she stopped in the open doorway.

"Really though. Thank you for having me. I had a… really nice time."

Her blush was back in full force, he spotted it as she ducked past the doorframe and onwards down the corridor.

Natsu wasn't going to let her go without saying goodbye.

He sucked in all his breath and limped to the door. "GOODNIGHT, LUCY!" he yelled loudly, echoing down the corridor. He saw her head turn at the top of the stairs, and their eyes connected. She gave him a shy grin and a little wave, then hurried away down the staircase and out of sight.

As annoyed as Natsu was that their activities had been interrupted, he couldn't help feeling pretty chuffed with himself. He _knew_ she felt this attraction too. It was just a matter of time to get her to admit it.

* * *

 **TBC :)**


	4. loser quest

**New chapter yay! Please keep reading, reviewing and following, thanks so much for keeping up with this story :)**

 **I snuck a Disney reference in here. Points if you guess.**

 **Don't own fairy tail, or anything disney for that matter. Enjoy!**

* * *

The air was thick with smoke, as the roar of a hundred dragons rocked the very foundations of the earth. Darkness streaked across the blood red sky corrupting the light of a dying sun. Mountains crumbled in the distance, and a horde of monsters numbering a thousand strong gathered on the plains below. The ground turned to lava beneath their feet- but he was not afraid of fire.

He stood, on the edge of the precipice, staring darkly into the abyss. The determination showed clear on his face. His rose-coloured hair shifted in the hot drafts that reached him, his clothes, tattered and fraying into ashes, displaying his muscular, well-defined chest with impeccable post-apocalyptic taste. He knew in his heart that he could defeat the evil before him. For he stood for light against the darkness. Him, together with his band of sworn guildmates. Held together by bonds of strength; of magic; but most of all, of friendship.

"We will have victory", he stated clearly, flames igniting behind his eyes. "For we believe in light, and goodness, and justice. We believe in _each other._ I know that we can do this. Because, we are-"

"Dude."

"What?"

"It's just laser tag."

"…"

"…I know that."

Natsu, Gray, Elfman, Loke, Jellal, and a bunch of other guys that Loke had managed to drag out from somewhere, were armour-strapped and armed to the teeth. With laser quest guns. They stood, cramped, in the tiny black entrance cubicle, waiting for the door to open into the main playing room, where they would face their unknown opponents and WIN (obviously), gaining honour, glory, everlasting bragging rights. Gray shifted uncomfortably. The massive "19 TODAY" badge Elfman had considered manly enough to get him was digging into his chest under his blue laser tag vest. Man, what he wouldn't give to get rid of those pesky layers…

"Focus, Gray!" Loke elbowed him joshingly. It had all been Loke's idea, of course. Gray's self proclaimed wingman, he'd been feeling a little left out since Juvia had arrived on the scene, so his surprise laser quest birthday party plan had been a bid to claw back his feeling of self-importance in Gray's life.

"Whatever," Gray muttered moodily, but at least he stopped fiddling with his vest.

The sound system started to beep, counting down from 10.

"Aren't we a little old for this?" Jellal asked tiredly, though he hefted his laser gun all the same. "We'll probably be facing off against a group of ten-year-old kids."

Loke looked hurt. But it was too dark for anyone to see, so he got ignored.

"No way," Natsu grinned, readying his own weapon. The buzzer went, and the door in front of them swung open. "Now let's go show that other team how to LOSE!"

…

 ***Natsu's room, three days ago** *****

"Tomorrow?"

"Sorry."

"Wednesday?"

"Still no."

"Thursday?"

"I'm _really_ sorry, Natsu."

Natsu almost huffed into the phone in frustration. He'd been trying to get Lucy to go on another date with him for over a week now, but she always seemed to be busy. He refused to accept the possibility she was avoiding him.

"What are you so busy with, anyway?" he asked her, sulkily, turning onto his front. He was lying on his bed, fiddling with his spare blanket. He'd never admit it to anyone, but since that night Lucy had come over, he'd taken to cuddling with it quite a lot. He reckoned it still smelled like her.

"Well, I've had to pick up a bunch of extra deliveroo shifts," she said, sounding apologetic. "And Erza made me promise to come to a girl's night on Thursday. Trust me. One does not simply say no to Erza Scarlet."

Natsu's memory of the tall, imposing redhead at his front door holding his deliveroo order in the most threatening way possible resurfaced in his mind. He shuddered. Yep, you definitely did not say 'no' to Erza Scarlet.

"I know it's annoying, believe me I'd love to meet up." Lucy was continuing. "Once my deadlines pass next week, I'll have more time. But in the immediate future, I reckon the only bit of free time I even _have_ this week is Friday morning."

"Hang on," Natsu propped himself up sharply. "Did you say you're free on Friday morning?"

"Er… yeah. What about it?"

"You know what mornings are for, right?"

She seemed to consider for a second. "Um… waking up and cursing the world and the rest of humanity then hitting snooze on your alarm clock 5 times and trying to go back to sleep and forget that work and lectures exist?"

Natsu paused. "… I… guess…? But no- that's not what I meant."

"What did you mean then?"

Natsu took a dramatic breath. "BREAKFAST!" he yelled enthusiastically down the line.

"Breakfast?!" she echoed incredulously.

"Yeah, breakfast! Hey, other people have dinner dates, and lunch dates, and coffee dates. Why not breakfast?"

He could hear her laughing. "I don't know, Natsu. You'd make me give up my lie-in."

"It's the most important meal of the day," he wheedled. She giggled again.

"Oh alright then," she relented, and Natsu inwardly cheered. "Let's get breakfast. Do you know anywhere good?"

"I picked the last eating establishment," (he congratulated himself on the use of a long word like establishment), "so why don't you pick this one?"

"How gallant of you," she sounded amused. "I don't usually go out for breakfast… I guess I'll ask Mira for a recommendation, she's sure to know somewhere good."

"Awesome. Hey- one rule."

"Yes?"

"It has to have pancakes."

"Oh, definitely," she agreed, quite seriously, before hanging up.

…

Natsu's laptop started pinging the same evening. He was surprised to find himself member of a new chat with some familiar faces.

 **Loke L. :** Hey guys. Gray's birthday is on Wednesday, so I thought we could have a surprise party on Thursday. Everyone meet at Gray's place at 6, I'll get him over there and once you've all surprised him, we'll head over to Lamia LaserQuest. Booking's already made!

 **Elfman S. :** Why are we doing a party on Thursday if his birthday's on Wednesday?

 **Max M. :** Because then it wouldn't be a SURPRISE!

(Natsu glanced at the name in interest; he didn't know a Max. Must be one of Loke's friends.)

 **Jellal F. :** Actually, I believe Loke may be being considerate of Gray's standard lack of propensity to celebrate his birthday formally, and given his recently kindled relationship with Juvia, Loke is sensitive to the fact that our friend may already have, to put it politely, alternative plans.

 **Droy G. :** Dude what?

 **Jet S. :** He's saying that Gray wants to get laid on his birthday.

 **Loke L. :** Yeah, thanks, Jet. So we all in, guys?

General messages of assent trickled onto the screen, as Natsu added his own.

 **Elfman S. :** Man, this sure is a peaceful chat now Natsu and Gray aren't fighting on it.

 **Natsu D. :** Hey!

 **Loke L. :** You're right, elf!

 _Loke L. changed the thread topic to "Gray's surprise party"_

 **Natsu D. :** Whatever. If ice pick's not on here, then I'm happy.

 _Natsu D. changed the thread topic to "Gray Sux"_

 _Loke L. changed Natsu D.'s nickname to "jealous crybaby"_

 **Jealous Crybaby :** Excuse me?! I am not jealous of that loser!

 **Max M. :** But you are a crybaby, though?

 **Jealous Crybaby. :** Dude, who even are you? FITE ME

 _Jealous Crybaby changed Max M's nickname to "Chicken"._

 **Chicken:** What the hell, man

 **Elfman S. :** THIS IS NOT MANLY

 _Elfman S. changed the thread topic to "MANLY MEN OF MANLINESS"_

 _Elfman S. changed Natsu D.'s nickname to "MAN NO. 1"_

 _Elfman S. changed Max M.'s nickname to "MAN NO. 2"_

 _Elfman S. changed Loke L.'s nickname to "MAN NO. 3"_

 _Elfman S. changed Jellal F.'s nickname to "MAN NO. 4"_

 _Elfman S. changed Jet S.'s nickname to "MAN NO. 5"_

 _Elfman S. changed Droy G.'s nickname to "MAN NO. 6"_

 _Elfman S. changed Elfman S.'s nickname to "MAN NO. 7"_

 **MAN NO. 3:** Um. What just happened?

 **MAN NO. 2:** I… don't. Know.

 **MAN NO. 1:** Who are you? FITE ME

 **MAN NO. 2:** You literally just said that to me

 **MAN NO. 1:** Really? Soz. I srsly cant tell who you are anymore tho.

 **MAN NO. 6:** Yeah I can't tell who anyone is.

 **MAN NO. 4:** Did you even know who any of us were to start with?

 **MAN NO. 3:** Harsh.

 **MAN NO. 13:** This is ridiculous. I'm leaving.

 _MAN NO. 13 has signed off._

….

 **MAN NO. 3:** Does… does anyone know who that was?

Collective non-response.

 **MAN NO. 1:** O- _KAY_ then. Let's just meet at 6 at Gray's.

 **MAN NO. 5:** And let's delete this chat. It's haunted.

 **MAN NO. 2:** Yup.

 **MAN NO. 5:** Agreed.

 **MAN NO. 1:** Bunch of sissies.

 _All members signed off._

…

"WHOSE-FRICKING-TERRIBLE-IDEA-WAS IT-TO-SURPRISE GRAY- AT _HIS_ ROOM?"

The words came out in a hissed whisper from an unidentifiable source. No less than six guys were crammed into the dark, tiny, airless cleaner's closet next to Gray's room- because no-one had had the foresight to realise, that if Gray wasn't in, then there was no reason that his door would be unlocked.

"SHUT UP", came another furious disembodied whisper. "I THINK I HEAR THEM COMING".

The closet fell silent as footsteps approached outside.

"This is it men," Elfman encouraged. "Ready? 1- 2- 3"

"SURPRISE!"

A girlish scream echoed throughout the corridor and assailed the ears of the six unfortunate souls who had just tumbled haphazardly out of the closet.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Evergreen yelled in anger, Elfman sprawled at her feet.

"Evergreen! Sweetie! It's so great to see you, I almost forgot you lived in this block-"

A resounding slap across the face was what Elfman got for all his trouble, and Evergreen stalked off down the hall.

"Ever, wait!" Elfman took of running towards her, leaving five very disgruntled boys in his wake.

"That was a total mess," Jet commented, brushing himself off. "I guess we should go back in there, we need to be ready for-"

"What is going on here?"

Gray's bemused voice reached their ears, they turned to find him standing behind them in confusion, Loke facepalming next to him.

"Surprise", they all said together, a bit halfheartedly.

"I should have known this wouldn't work," Loke said tiredly. "Never mind then. Let's just get to laser quest."

"Wait a sec- we can't go. Elfman just ran off after Evergreen," Natsu pointed out. He didn't want to leave the big guy behind.

"Oh, for- fine. Let's go get him. Follow me, my elite search-and-rescue team. I have a feeling he'll need a trained medic when Evergreen's done with him."

…

They ended up reaching laser tag five minutes before the game started.

"You guys better hurry," the proprietor, a pretty, small girl with bright pink hair warned. "The other team's already suited up and ready to go. You don't get refunded for any time missed!"

They rushed through the collection point, strapping on their gear quickly and huddling into the main room's entrance cubicle with a minute to go.

"I blame Elfman," Natsu said unhelpfully.

"Yeah well I blame Loke."

"I blame Loke too," said Gray unexpectedly.

This brings us to the point at which this chapter begun. Gray's every action is threatening to remove clothing, Natsu is itching to go, Elfman is manly, Jellal is actually present for once, Loke is feeling rather put upon, and those other guys are… also there.

Natsu's mind momentarily distracted itself. He wondered what Lucy was doing right now. She'd said she was having a girl's night… maybe she was painting her nails, or whatever it is that girls do. He pictured a sleepover. With pyjamas, and pillow fights. Mmm, sexy pillow fights.

The buzzer went loudly, breaking him out of his reverie.

"This is it!"

The door opened, into battlefields and territory unknown.

…

Chaos reigned.

The boys, devoid of any sort of strategy, had raced into the room, complete with fake black walls, a terrible dramatic music soundtrack, and poor UV lighting. Natsu's white scarf glowed merrily, while Elfman was identifiable by his hair.

His size apparently wasn't helping him become less of a target either. Two minutes in, and he'd been hit by a member of the mysterious opposing side.

"Who are these guys anyway?" Gray wondered aloud, as more beeps sounded signalling their team's losses. "They're like ninjas, I haven't even spotted one yet!"

"Screw this!" Natsu yelled, as his own vest got hit. "I'm not standing around waiting to get hit, I'm going after 'em!"

He sped down one of the dark fake tunnels leaving the others gaping in his wake.

"I don't think we should all split up!" Gray called at his receding figure. "Natsu, wait! Hey Jellal, you agree with me, right?"

He turned to his side where Jellal had been only moments before, where instead, there was now a Jellal-shaped hole in the air.

"Typical," he complained, as more beeps went off from his vest.

….

Natsu had managed to avoid getting targeted since splitting off from the other guys. He was in ultimate stealth mode. So far, he'd caught vague glimpses of the red vests worn by the other team, but man, they sure were fast.

He rounded a corner, and immediately stumbled a couple of steps backwards as he caught sight of a kneeling figure in red. He'd made his way up to some higher ground, finding an almost hidden space where a person could station themself to act as a sniper for the other players below. He'd noticed the shots had to be coming from somewhere when they'd first gotten in- clearly this team had found the best spots and strategized well.

But that was all about to change.

Sniggering to himself in ill-contained glee, he quietly snuck up on the unsuspecting figure. It was so dark he could hardly see them. As he got closer, laser gun at the ready, he noticed a glimmer of bright hair. Slender shoulders… and… a side ponytail?

The figure whirled round.

"Natsu?!"

"LUCY?" He dropped the gun in surprise. It bounced of the floor, triggering the laser button and hitting Lucy's vest.

"Hey!" she cried indignantly.

"Lucy, it IS you. What are you doing here?" He asked, completely ignoring her protest.

Just then, a startling war cry sounded from outside the little space. Natsu went to Lucy's side and peered out the window she'd been shooting through.

"DIEEEEEE", went Erza Scarlet, as she rampaged through his team.

Lucy pointed down at her.

"Girl's night," she explained.

"Ah."

"NATSU ARE YOU UP HERE?" Elfman's voice boomed from the bottom of the stairs Natsu had just entered by.

 _If Elfman comes up here, he'll shoot at Lucy!_ Natsu thought worriedly.

"Um. No?" He called back down the stairs.

"Idiot!" Lucy hissed, whacking him with her gun.

Elfman's stomping feet echoed up the stairs, as Natsu and Lucy shared a look of panic- so caught up in the game, that they didn't really register that none of this actually mattered and nobody in the real world cared.

"We have to get out of here!" Lucy gasped.

Natsu ran to the other side, where there was a wide enough opening and a bit of a drop. It was probably like a metre high, because this was after all a laser quest room and it needed to comply with some sort of health and safety standards.

"Do you trust me?" he turned back to Lucy, hand outstretched, eyes earnest.

"What?"

"Do you trust me?" he repeated.

"…yes," she said uncertainly, giving him her hand.

"Then JUMP!"

…

"They're chicks! We're playing against a bunch of chicks!" having safely landed, still hand in hand with Lucy, Natsu spotted Gray yelling and running towards him manically.

Shortly behind him was Loke.

"They're chicks! We're playing against a bunch of chicks!" He repeated with much enthusiasm.

Gray stopped short when he reached them. "Oh, hi. Lucy, right?"

"Hey Gray," she greeted. "Oh, happy birthday."

"How'd you know it was my birthday?"

"Juvia told me."

"GRAAAAYYY SAMMAAAAAAA!" a voice filled to the brim with adoration sounded from behind them all. Gray turned, horrified, to see Juvia running towards them, waving her laser gun in the air.

"LAST NIGHT WAS SO AMAAAZING!" She continued, pursuing Gray as he took off in the other direction. "MY DARLING GRAY YOU'RE SO GOOD IN BEEEEeeeee…."

Her words were drowned out by the sound system's background music as the pair vanished round a corner.

Loke turned to Natsu and Lucy again. "Look Lucy. This is nothing personal, but…"

He lifted his gun and shot at her vest. The scoreboard beeped, signalling more points for Natsu's team.

"Ok, maybe it is personal," he shrugged. "I still haven't forgotten that slap!" He grinned good naturedly, but readied his gun again.

"RUN, LUCY, RUN!" Natsu yelled dramatically. "I'LL HOLD HIM OFF!"

Lucy did as told, and Loke lowered his gun again, looking at Natsu in bemusement.

"Are you _sure_ you know it's just laser tag?"

…

Their time in the laser quest game was almost up- only about 10 minutes to go. Throughout the game, Natsu had caught sight of the other girls on Lucy's team, but never exchanged pleasantries, being far too busy trying to shoot them. With Lucy herself though, he'd always make an exception.

Things were quiet at the moment… too quiet. Natsu was creeping (stealthily) down a narrow corridor, when he heard female voices coming from further ahead.

"You have to do it. For the good of the team."

"No! I won't do it!" a familiar voice insisted.

"Lucy, we're losing. We need this boost. You have to do it! Besides," the voice became sly, "I'm pretty sure he wouldn't _mind_." This voice sounded familiar too… kinda like that waitress at Madame Mira's…

"I'm telling you, I won't do it!" Lucy said again. "I don't want to win- not like this."

There was a slight pause, and Natsu continued to eavesdrop, intrigued.

"If you don't do it- we'll tell him about your bunny costume."

"YOU WOULDN'T!"

"Oh yes, we will. We have pictures."

"…"

"Fine. I'll do it."

The girls cheered, and Natsu ducked behind a column as Lucy emerged, looking troubled. He trailed her down the corridor till she got to a different space, before tapping her on the shoulder.

She screamed.

"So what was all that about?" he asked nonchalantly.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh, you'll see."

And then, just like that, without any warning or a moment's notice, she was kissing him. Full on the mouth. With tongue. And EVERYTHING.

Natsu forgot where he was. He forgot WHO he was, as he enthusiastically dropped his laser gun and wrapped his arms around her body.

She pressed herself up against him even more, making sparks ignite in the region of his stomach. Her full, soft lips probed his own, and he opened up to them willingly.

"GET HIIIIMMMM"

The battle scream and the sound of several beeps from his own vest broke him out of his reverie. The girls, those sneaky creatures, had followed him from their hideout and attacked him all at once, getting round the rule that the same person couldn't be shot by the same gun in quick succession.

"Aw crap," Natsu groaned, eyes towards the ceiling. Then realisation hit him. He glanced back at Lucy, who was looking exceptionally guilty.

"You…."

The full force of her betrayal hit him, and he sank to his knees.

"How could you?" he implored, gazing at her with expert puppy dog eyes.

"I'm sorry!" she wailed, distressed. "I was blackmailed!"

The other girls were wisely retreating from the scene, high fiving and looking for fresh prey. Only a few minutes left in the game.

"I'll never forgive you," he said huskily, looking away from her. "I thought… I thought we were friends."

Lucy looked truly alarmed now, and she quickly fell to her own knees to see Natsu's face.

"We are friends! It's only laser tag! Natsu? Natsu?!"

A sudden beep sounded.

Lucy looked down at her chest in surprise.

And the laser tag gun Natsu had been aiming straight at it.

He fell about on the floor laughing at her shocked expression, tears of hilarity streaming down his face. "I can't… believe… you fell for that," he wheezed out, cackling.

She was less than impressed.

"Well whatever. Our attack still put us in the lead. So we've won."

"You let your guard down though," said Natsu, sitting up and wiping away the tears from his eyes.

She huffed a little.

All at once, Natsu's warm lips had captured her own. She sighed a little into the kiss, relaxing and grasping his arms.

He pulled away, as the buzzer went, signalling the end of the game.

"You let your guard down again," Natsu said softly, forehead touching hers. She was far too breathless to say anything in return.

…

"That was good fun."

Jellal materialised behind Natsu and Lucy as they exited the dark laser quest playing room. Natsu turned in mild surprise.

"Dude where were you? I haven't seen you since the beginning of the game!"

But Jellal was already gone.

"How does he DO that?" Natsu wondered aloud.

"Yo, Natsu! Lucy!" Loke caught up to them. "We're thinking of heading to a bar with the girls. Isn't it crazy we ran into them, when a few of us happen to know some of them already?"

"Sure is," Natsu said cheerfully, slinging a casual arm around Lucy's shoulder. "Crazy!"

She turned red, and as she spotted the other girls emerging from the playing room, she batted Natsu's arm away.

"You know they all saw you make out with me in there like 5 minutes ago, right?" he reminded her.

"You don't have to make it worse!" she groaned. "Come on, let's just get to the bar."

Loke, deeply engaged in conversation (read: flirting) with Cana, led the motley bunch down a few streets until they emerged at their destination- a familiar little establishment, called Fairy Tail.

"Isn't this a club?" Natsu called forward to Loke. He'd been walking side by side with Lucy, almost touching, and had so far resisted the temptation to wrap his arm around her back or hold her hand, despite his almost irrational urge to do so.

"There's a bar at the top!" Loke called back over his shoulder. He, on the other hand, seemed to be displaying absolutely no qualms about holding Cana boldly round the waist. She was reciprocating fully of course, with her arm around his back, hand inching south in the direction of Loke's back pocket. Natsu suspected she'd been tipsy before she even got to Lamia LaserQuest.

They climbed the stairs at the side of the Fairy Tail building, emerging onto a rooftop bar, complete with fairy lights and patio heaters which Lucy immediately gravitated towards.

"Cold?" Natsu asked her, recalling when he'd asked her the same thing in his room last week.

"Yeah," she said absently. This time, he didn't offer her a blanket.

He took the opportunity to place a strong arm round her slender shoulders, pulling her in close, sharing his unusually abundant body heat with her. He savoured the feeling of her small body fitting into his. Her head nestled in the crook of his neck, and he felt, rather than heard her sigh. This time, she didn't pull away.

"You two are certainly getting on well." Erza had obtained a delicate-looking cocktail, complete with purple umbrella, from the bar, and came to join them in the glow of the patio heater. Lucy looked a little bit flushed, but didn't make any movements to leave the position. Natsu observed Erza slightly warily, noticing that she looked a lot more relaxed than he'd previously seen her. She must've worked the fight out of her system.

"Hi Lucy!" a cute voice sounded from somewhere out of sight. Natsu adjusted his head to look downwards, noticing a petite girl wearing a bandana, with bright blue hair. "And you must be Natsu! I'm Levy." She smiled and stuck out her hand, which Natsu shook happily with his free one.

"So you've been talking about me to your friends?" he murmured cheekily into Lucy's ear.

"I'll have you know, Levy was at Fairy Tail with me the last time I met you here," she replied smugly. She continued a little more audibly. "You know, when that guy was being creepy. Um- Loke. Right?"

"Oh yeah… speaking of which… isn't that him over there?" Levy pointed uncertainly to the bar, where Loke was sat on a barstool, Cana perched on his lap, heads far too close for anyone's comfort.

"Good point. You never actually explained what really happened that day, Natsu. Care to enlighten us?"

How to go about explaining that the event that got Lucy to notice him was a fake fight he pretended to have with Loke to defend her honour? "Oh… well, well, you see, the thing, the thing is…"

He was saved from having to come up with a plausible story by the timely arrival of Gray, accompanied by two of the new guys. Juvia was also glued to Gray's side, but he seemed to have gotten used to it.

"Hey guys. This is Jet and Droy," he gestured to the two newcomers. "Loke and I met them in our new journalism seminar."

Jet and Droy didn't say anything. They were too busy gazing at, of all people, Levy.

"Aren't you Levy McGarden?" Jet said in rapture.

"Editor of the _Makarov Campus Quarterly?"_ Droy continued in wonderment.

"Yeah. That's me!" Levy shrugged and smiled endearingly.

Before anyone could blink, the two had clustered round Levy exclaiming things like "You're so awesome Levy!" and "You're so pretty!" and "Will you sign my copy of your editorial?"

"Good game, guysh!" It seemed that Cana had given up her seat on Loke's bar stool to join the rest of the group. Her words slurred _ever_ so slightly. Loke trailed after her, looking a little sulky.

Cana stopped suddenly and pointed at Gray.

"Hey, aren't you the stripper?"

"IT WAS YOU!"

Everyone turned in alarm at the murderous tone in Erza's voice. She raised an arm to point at him accusingly. "He took his laser tag vest off in the middle of the game!"

"Not to mention his other clothesh," Cana chimed in.

"Removing your vest is AGAINST THE RULES." Erza finished, drawing herself up to her full height. "WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF."

Gray looked panicked, and Juvia full and ready to defend her love, but Jellal (when did he get here?) stepped forward and said something into Erza's ear.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," she said, immediately dropping her fight-ready stance. "Let's go."

Without another word, the two of them left the circle.

Everyone gawked after them.

"I wonder what _they're_ gonna do," Cana posed the question suggestively, taking another swig from her beer.

"It's getting late anyway," Gray looked a little disturbed, and also thankful that he wasn't dead. "Maybe we should head home."

Juvia practically squealed in excitement and dragged Gray off by the arm before he could say anything else. Natsu noticed he didn't seem to be resisting though.

"Let's call it a night," Levy agreed. "I'LL WALK YOU HOME, LEVY!" yelled Jet and Droy eagerly.

"Wanna head?" Natsu nudged Lucy's side gently. Her head came up and her eyelids fluttered. Natsu realised she's almost fallen asleep, protected in the warm glow of his body.

"Hmmm? Yeah." She agreed, giving him a sleepy smile. It was one of the cutest things Natsu had ever seen.

They left together, his arm still around her, supporting her tired head as they walked towards their neighbourhood. Lucy happened to live almost on the way to his own room. Half asleep, she steered him subconsciously until he had walked her all the way to her front door.

She seemed to wake up a bit.

"Oh right. We're here."

She looked at him in concern.

"I'm really sorry- I hope I didn't put you out of your way too much."

"You," he said, bring his forehead close to hers, "will never be out of my way."

She smiled back.

The street was a pretty one, bordering a canal. The porch light bathed them both in a warm yellow glow, as he bent his head to kiss her, the third time in a single evening.

The kiss was gentle. Beautiful. On the edge of sleep, carrying them both almost into the realm of dreams. Natsu knew he would go to bed thinking about her. Thinking about what this kiss might turn into someday; thinking about the way it felt so natural, but still created a flutter in his chest. He longed for more of her. One day, he wanted to press her body against his, their mouths meeting in hard passion, bringing them as close together as possible. But for now, she needed this: a slow, soporific kiss that closed an evening of possibilities, and promised things to come.

"Goodnight Luce." He breathed, bringing his lips away from hers.

"Goodnight Natsu," she exhaled in return, with a slightly shaky smile.

"Oh hey," he said, pulling away from her, his voice returning to normal. "We're still on for tomorrow morning, right?"

She grinned back. "Yeah sure. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Sleep well Luce!" He said cheerfully, stepping off the porch and heading down the street with a wave.

"You too!" She shook her head in delighted wonder. No matter how he made her feel sometimes, that boy could always be relied on to be himself; fun, friendly, unfazeable Natsu.

* * *

 **TBC :)**


	5. pancakes

**Newest chapter! This one gets a bit... feelings...y. But don't you worry, there's plenty of humour to go round, and we'll be getting back to the Nalu action that started to pick up in chapter 3 very soon *winks***

 **As ever thank you for your follows, favourites and especially your reviews :) I hope this chapter answers some of your questions! Do message me if you'd like a specific response, I am super super grateful for your comments :)**

 **In case you didn't realise- I _really_ like pancakes.**

* * *

She was late.

Natsu looked around worriedly. He was standing in front of Quattro Café, a beat-up-looking diner that apparently served the best pancakes in the city. In his hand was a dying bouquet of carnations. Sadly, they hung their pink heads, mirroring the guy who was holding them as his mood slowly wilted.

"Hey!"

Natsu's head came up and he twisted round, spying Lucy's blond ponytails and bright, wide smile. "Thanks for waiting Natsu, I'm so sorry I got here as quick as I could. My bike chain broke," she finished, a bit gloomily.

"What? Me? Nah. Been here like a few seconds!"

He'd actually gotten there 10 minutes early. The she'd been ten minutes late.

"Sorry 'bout your bike. Oh hey- here,"

He thrust the carnations in her face with little finesse. She sneezed.

"Oh! These are really pretty," she said, with genuine warmth in her eyes as she gingerly took them from him. Even the flowers seemed to perk up with her touch, and Natsu gazed at her with something akin to awestruck adoration. The washed out pink petals took on a subtle glow, she lifted the flower heads to prop them up against each other for support. They looked beautiful. Maybe it was just a side effect of being next to her.

"Should we go in?" she suggested, breaking him out of his musings. With a wide grin, and his mind turning to food, he offered her his arm and opened the diner door.

…

Despite being a weekday morning, Quattro Café was buzzing. They got seats at a scruffy metal table, sitting on what could've been garden chairs. Natsu perused the dog-eared laminated menu with interest.

"Any ideas what you want, Luce?" he asked her casually, looking at her over his menu.

"Hmm… it's hard to say. Just LOOK at all these pancake options!"

The menu had many sections pertaining to standard breakfast items. Omelettes of every kind, plates with all the trimmings, graced its battered pages. But best of all, the crowning glory, a shining jewel in the midst of a heap of gold coins – the pancake section.

There were plain pancakes. Blueberry pancakes. Banana pancakes. Pancakes with melted chocolate. Pancakes with ice cream. Pancakes with chocolate AND ice cream. Pancakes covered in strawberries, draped with piles of exotic fruit, stuffed full with cream, nuts, chocolate chips, stacks of pancakes with butter and maple syrup, super thin crepes with any filling you could ever want, simple affairs with lemon and sugar, monstrous creations covered in sauces and sweets and splendorous delights.

Natsu had started to drool. He quickly shut his mouth and looked over at Lucy again. Her eyes had glazed over, and he could almost swear she'd started to drool too.

"Uh, Lucy?"

"Huh?" She snapped the menu shut, looking embarrassed.

"You got a little…" he pointed awkwardly to the corner of his own mouth. She caught on, grabbed a napkin and dabbed at her face, looking like she wanted to sink into the ground. Natsu was trying not to laugh as the waitress arrived.

"What can I get you two lovebirds?"

"CANA?"

Lucy sat bolt upright again, staring at the waitress in disbelief. Sure enough, it was the tall, somewhat underdressed brunette, sporting a mischievous grin.

"What are you doing here? You don't _work_ here!"

"Au contraire, girlfriend. As of this morning, I do indeed work here."

Lucy hadn't dropped her shocked expression as Cana continued.

"I needed some extra cash and I couldn't make my shift at Mira's this week. Now _she_ mentioned that she'd recommended this little place to you for a date. So I called the regular waitress and arranged a swap!"

As was her habit, Cana pulled up a chair, with both Natsu and Lucy being too gobsmacked to react.

"I gotta confess though," she said, leaning forward conspiratorially, "I didn't think you'd be here in, like, the _morning_. I never expected _this_ from you. I mean, come on Lucy. This is really soon. For you, anyway."

Lucy's expression melded into one of confusion.

"You know," Cana said. "Pancakes."

"Um. What?"

Natsu located his voicebox and felt compelled to use it.

"Um yeah. We're getting pancakes. And what?"

Cana burst into laughter. "Yeah well, if you guys are sure. It is a really big step, after all. Having… pancakes. Together."

"Cana, what are you getting at?" Lucy said tiredly. "I'd like to have some breakfast, if it's not too much trouble."

"Oh yeah, yeah sure. I'm certain you need the energy." Cana felt it was appropriate to accompany this statement with a rather pronounced and obvious wink. "So what'll you guys be having? I assume you're pretty satisfied. You know, as far as _pancakes_ go."

"I'd actually really like some pancakes," Natsu put in sincerely. Cana went into fresh bouts of laughter, as Lucy looked simultaneously confused and horrified.

"Um. Could we maybe have a few more minutes to think about it?" She requested Cana uncertainly.

"No problem hun! I'll see you in a few. Don't have too much… _pancake_ while I'm gone."

"You mean too _many,_ " Natsu interjected, feeling quite proud of his grammar use. "Oh and could I get a brownie milkshake while we wait?"

"Milkshake." Cana said, standing up. "Oh yeah. Of _course_ you want the milkshake."

She made her way over to a different table. Natsu could see her shoulders shaking from suppressed giggles.

"So what was that about?" He turned to Lucy, whose expression had lost the vestiges of confusion and turned to pure horror.

"You don't know?"

"Nope." Natsu looked back, a little concerned. "Why, what is it?"

"Well, she thinks we… she thinks… that we…"

"Had pancakes?" Natsu supplied helpfully. Lucy looked back at him in dismay.

"It doesn't make sense," Natsu said, scratching his rosy head. "If we'd already had pancakes, then why would we be _here?_ "

"But… that's precisely what she's saying," Lucy attempted to explain. "She's seeing that we're, like… having breakfast together. And, you know, it's morning. So she assumed that we- had pancakes."

Natsu was still not getting it.

"Not, like, pancakes," Lucy pointed to one of the pictures in the menu to illustrate. "But, the other kind. You know. _Pan_ cakes."

"Like… British pancakes?" Natsu tried. Lucy facepalmed.

"If you don't know, I'm not going to tell you," she said firmly, and buried her nose in the menu.

"Aw Luce, come on!" Natsu pleaded, trying to push down her menu. He hated not knowing stuff. "Please tell me what she was talking about."

"No." came a small, sulky voice from behind the laminated card.

"Luuuuce," Natsu injected as much annoying whine into his voice as he could muster. No movement from the menu. Time to try plan B.

"Luce," he said, voice turning low, deep and husky. "Come on, Luce. Just tell me what she meant."

The menu wavered. He was breaking through.

"It's ok Luce," he touched her fingers where they were curled round the card, gently trying to persuade them to let go. "I won't laugh. I promise."

"She means sex."

Lucy almost jumped out of her chair as a passing waiter helpfully weighed in on their conversation.

"When that chick is insinuating something, it's usually sex", he continued, with a slight, lazy slur in his words. Natsu took in the guy's easy stance and the black, triangular tattoos on his face. "Name's Bacchus. And you're welcome."

He started to move off again but Natsu stopped him.

"Hey wait a minute man! Whaddaya mean, "Sex"?"

Catching sight of Lucy's fierce blush, he coughed a little, but it wasn't like he could unsay it.

Bacchus gave a world weary sigh. "Listen kid. This diner is a hotspot for couples who've spent the night. Just look around you."

Natsu did. Surprisingly, it was true, and he hadn't even noticed it before. At almost every table, couples sat, holding hands, gazing mushily into each others eyes over the maple syrup bottle.

"It's _the_ place to go for post-coital pancakes," continued Bacchus with no small sense of satisfaction. "Not a bad rep to have, really. Gotta get going though, new girl will come back for your order."

He moved away in a vaguely elegant stagger.

Lucy was massaging her head with her fingers. "I am so going to kill Mira." She muttered.

Personally, Natsu couldn't see the problem. He'd never had that much of a stigma about sex anyway. It was a pretty normal thing. But slowly, through his dense head, was trickling the realisation that Lucy, perhaps, was a little more shy about the concept.

"Hey."

Lucy looked up at his voice, a little warily.

"It's not a big deal," he said, softly. "Do you really mind so much about what people think?"

She considered his words for a few seconds, and sighed a little. "It's not really about that. It's just, it bothers me a little, when people are all up in your business, you know?"

She gave him a tentative smile.

"Look, I'm sorry I'm so neurotic. I'm just a bit new to this relationsh- ahem, I mean, this, dating, thing."

Natsu understood. He recalled Gray's comments in MMA last week, and how they'd made him so angry. He guessed Lucy didn't like her friends making assumptions about her love life either. As for her inexperience; her behaviour suddenly started to click into place. Her fleeing from his room before things got too heated, her reluctance to act too affectionate around her friends.

"But you're so awesome." He said without thinking.

"What?" she looked amazed.

Now Natsu was the one who was embarrassed. "Nothing," he said. What he'd been thinking was, how could such a smart, funny, gorgeous girl have not had a relationship before? He could tell he wasn't the first guy she'd kissed for sure. But what about more than that? Was all of this new ground for her?

He shook himself out of his thoughts, since Lucy was still staring at him from the other side of the table.

"Never mind. Look. Let's just get some pancakes, shall we? I mean, the food type. And look, don't worry about the whole being-at-this-diner-in-the-morning thing. Cana's the only one who's seen us, and you're friends right? Just have a chat with her later and set her straight, if it's important to you."

Natsu gave her one of his trademark grins, and Lucy couldn't help smiling back. His statement that she was awesome had been a significant boost to her mood as well, of course.

"Alright. Pancakes it is!"

…

Natsu had tried his best to forget about the whole pancakes-equals-sex misunderstanding while they ate. But Lucy made it so damn difficult.

Bites of fluffy pancake loaded with butter and maple syrup went neatly through her plump, pink lips – most of the time. Occasionally, a drop of sticky sweetness would be left on the corner of her mouth, and she'd absently stick out the corner of her tongue to lick it clean. He found himself thinking about licking it off himself, and he had to frequently down large gulps of cold water to snap himself out of it.

Lucy noticed him staring. "Natsu?" she queried. He almost panicked.

"…Can I have a bite of your pancakes?"

Nice save, he congratulated himself.

She laughed. "yeah, sure," Natsu looked, aghast, as she pushed the entire plate over, containing at least half of her original order. "I'm pretty full now anyway."

Having already finished his plate, this action left Natsu torn. On the one side: more food. YES! But on the other hand: he didn't get to watch Lucy eat any more. Although, he reflected as he fought off the uncomfortable warmth she'd made him feel, maybe that was a good thing.

The date passed in bliss for both of them, as they relaxed and chatted like they always had. Natsu felt like he had died and gone to a pancake-and-Lucy heaven. Cana, thank goodness, had kept her comments to herself for the rest of the meal, and by the time they paid the bill (still splitting, Lucy refused to consider anything else even though Natsu had eaten half of her food), they'd both all but forgotten any awkwardness from earlier.

"So… I guess I'll see you soon then?" Lucy said, standing up and shouldering her bag. She gingerly picked up the carnations, which miraculously were still just about alive.

"Sure thing! Just let me know when your deadlines are done." He gave a small wave to Cana, who was watching them depart.

"Next weekend or something, then," she smiled. "I'll message you, ok?"

"Cool."

Lucy stood uncertainly in front of him, hovering for a few seconds. Then she quickly went up to her tiptoes and gave him a brief, sweet kiss.

"Bye Natsu."

"Bye, Luce," he opened his eyes to see her giving him one last smile before she turned away and started down the road.

…

The same evening, Natsu was browsing youtube videos with considerable apathy. He had an assignment to do, but just couldn't be bothered to make a start. Finding nothing interesting to watch, he logged onto his social media account, intending to meaninglessly meander through his newsfeed. He was mildly surprised to see a bunch of notifications, and clicked on the first one curiously.

Well.

That was unexpected.

A large photo of himself and Lucy at the diner this morning filled his screen. She had just leaned forward to steal a sip of his milkshake, while Natsu was drinking through the other straw. She was grinning, blond hair falling in front of her eyes while he had his hand reached across the table to hold hers (the primary reason for this was to prevent her pulling the milkshake away from him, but it sure didn't look like it on camera.)

He checked the caption. "Pancakes (bright and early, wink wink) for the cutest couple on campus" Cana had written. And – 157 LIKES?!

Natsu didn't even think he knew 157 different people. His last profile picture had gotten like 30, tops.

He checked the comments.

 **Mirajane Strauss:** Oh my gosh those two are adorable!

Ok, that's innocent enough, thought Natsu.

 **Elfman Strauss:** NATSU'S A REAL MAN NOW!

Er… well, that wasn't _necessarily_ implying anything…

 **Loke Leo:** Three dates and they're already doing it?! **Natsu Dragneel** moves faster than I gave him credit for ;)

Well, hell. Not only had Loke shown zero tact, but he'd also gone and tagged Natsu in his comment. Thanks a bunch, Loke.

 **Gray Fullbuster:** Didn't think you had it in you, flame brain

 **Juvia Lockser: Lucy Heartfilia** you are officially not my love rival LOL! Let's be BFFs :D

 **Erza Scarlet: Lucy Heartfilia** If you're happy, then so am I :) But **Natsu Dragneel** you better not hurt her, if you do you're answering to ME

 **Levy McGarden:** Awww this is super cute

 **Erza Scarlet: Lucy Heartfilia** also if you need to talk about contraception I'm happy to help

Natsu was sweating bullets at this point. What the heck did Lucy think about all this? He grabbed his phone and checked for any messages from her, but she'd been silent all day. His finger hovered over the 'call' button in his contacts. Would she even want to talk to him?

Before he could chicken out of it, he hit call.

He listened nervously as the phone rang.

"Your call has been forwarded to the Fiore AirComm voicemail service." A recording of Lucy's pretty voice saying "Lucy Heartfilia" played next, followed by the machine woman continuing "cannot take your call right now. Please leave your message after the tone."

He hung up, feeling panicky. Lucy had completely retreated into her shell as soon as sex had been brought up beforehand. He could only fret about how she would react now that all their friends were assuming they'd done it.

He turned back to his screen and wondered if he should comment. Denying it might just make it look like it really happened. But Lucy had said that wasn't the point; the point was that people were talking about them in the first place, and it was clearly too late for that.

He jumped at his ringtone. Lucy was calling!

"Hey," he said quickly, picking up the phone.

There was a lengthy pause on the other end. "Hi," she said eventually, sounding weary.

"Mirajane is going to have to wait," she continued. "I need to kill Cana first."

Natsu laughed. It was good to see she hadn't lost her sense of humour. It didn't look like she was actually taking it too seriously.

"You ok?" he said, just to check.

"Yeah, fine," she replied. "It is kind of annoying. But harmless I guess."

He waited with baited breath as she went on, "I gotta say, I did freak out when I saw it. But then I called my friend Levy and had a talk with her. She calmed me down and said it would blow over in a day anyway, social media is not known for its longevity."

"That's true," Natsu said in relief.

"Also, I feel a lot less… stressed about it all, after I talked to you this morning," she said, in a soft voice. Natsu went completely still, straining to hear what she was saying. "You're a good listener, Natsu. Thanks."

"Hey no problem," he said. "It's what I'm here for."

"So…" she trailed off.

"So?" he said teasingly.

She laughed. "We're good, yeah?"

"Of course we're good!" he said happily.

"Right. I gotta get back to work. But I'll talk to you soon, Natsu,"

"Great," he said, smiling. "Night, Luce."

"Night!"

When he hung up, he felt way lighter than before. Everything was fine. Lucy was cool and their friends could go on assuming whatever the heck they wanted- he didn't care, as long as it wasn't affecting her. He looked thoughtfully back at his screen, where the picture of them was still up and the number of likes growing by the second.

"I do believe it's time for a little payback," he said to himself, as he opened the photos app on his phone.

…

 **Cana Alberone** : WTF

Natsu laughed at the first comment on the picture he'd just posted. He'd remembered last night's laser tag game and their trip to the bar afterwards; when he'd taken a picture for Gray and Juvia on his own phone, he's spotted Cana sitting on Loke's lap in the background, both of them looking exceptionally out of it, and couldn't resist taking another photo for potential future leverage.

The like count had reached 142.

 **Loke Leo:** wanna get together again sometime, babe? ;)

 **Cana Alberone:** Omg I don't even remember this

 **Loke Leo:** :(

 **Gray Fullbuster:** Haha

 **Elfman Strauss:** Random hook-ups are not manly

 **Mirajane Strauss:** Aww, I think they look cute

The like count was still climbing. Natsu thought it was safe to assume his and Lucy's photo had been relegated to the bottom of everyone's newsfeed by this point.

 **Cana Alberone:** MIRA, NO

 **Gildarts Clive: Loke Leo** who are you and WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY BABY GIRL

Whoops, Natsu thought. That looked like an angry dad. He hadn't intended to put Loke's life in jeopardy.

 **Cana Alberone:** Dad, I swear to god I will unfriend you

 **Gildarts Clive:** Oh no, don't do that sweetheart! I just wanna have a man to man talk with the guy :p

 **Loke Leo:** Er. Hello sir. Listen, you don't have to worry, I don't think I'll be seeing your daughter any more.

 **Gildarts Clive:** WHAT ARE YOU SAYING PUNK ARE YOU BREAKING UP WITH **MY** DAUGHTER

 **Loke Leo:** No no, that's not what I meant!

 **Gildarts Clive:** NO-ONE USES MY DAUGHTER AND GETS AWAY WITH IT

 **Cana Alberone:** That's it, I'm blocking you

 **Gildarts Clive:** Honey wait, I just want to keep you safe!

 **Cana Alberone:** Bye now

No further messages were seen from Gildarts Clive.

 **Cana Alberone:** Ok move along folks, nothing to see here. **Natsu Dragneel** could you take this photo down pretty please

 **Erza Scarlet:** Cana, I'm coming over to have a chat about your drinking problem.

 **Cana Alberone:** NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Natsu was in fits of laughter now, as he closed down his laptop screen. He'd delete the photo in the morning when enough people had seen it and Cana had learned her lesson. His phone buzzed as he was still wiping away tears of mirth from his eyes. Onto the screen flashed a message from Lucy.

 **Lucy H.** You rock, Natsu :)

Warmth bloomed in his chest as he opened up the message and typed a quick response.

 **Natsu D.** I know :p

 **Lucy H.** Lol. Night then, sleep well xx

He smiled softly in the glow of the screen.

 **Natsu D.** Sweet dreams, Luce xx

* * *

 **TBC! And man, is it about to get good.**


	6. desperate to impress

**This was initially meant to be only half of a chapter, but it got so long that I decided to post it as a chapter all on its own!**

 **After all of this cuteness and fluff, it's high time for some action, dear readers (not _that_ kind of action, that'll be in the next chapter hehehe)**

 **Thank you for your reviews, they make me really happy! So thrilled that so many of you seem to be enjoying this :)**

 **(Don't own Fairy Tail)**

* * *

"Any plans this weekend?"

Lucy's casual question floated down the phone to Natsu's ears. He was flopped on his bed again on a Thursday night, way too lazy to do any more work.

"Hmmm… yeah, actually," he responded after a few moment's thought. "I have a match on Saturday. With the MMA team." He was gearing up to add a flirtatious "why do you ask", but Lucy interrupted him.

"Oh hey, is that the one against Magnolia Tech?" she asked with interest.

"Um, yeah, actually," he said, surprised. "How do you know?"

"So you remember my friend Levy?"

He murmured his assent, as Lucy went on.

"She's got press passes for the event, she's going to report on the match and do some interviews for the _Makarov Campus Quarterly._ She actually asked me if I wanted to go with."

"Really?" Natsu tried and failed to rein in his excitement. "So what did you say?"

She laughed. "I said that I'd think about it. Why, you want me to come?"

"Yeah!" he yelled enthusiastically, then was immediately embarrassed. "I mean, yeah, sure. I guess." He amended, in a more noncommittal tone.

He clearly wasn't fooling her though. "Well ok then," she agreed. "Since you obviously _really_ want me to be there-"

"Not _really,_ I mean, it's chill, up to you-"

"-As I said, you clearly really want me to come, so I'll tell Levy I want her extra ticket."

Natsu gave up trying to pretend he was indifferent about her attendance, and gave a whoop of delight.

"Awesome! I'll see you there then!" he said happily.

"Looking forward to it!" Lucy replied. "The match is at 4, right? Want to hang out afterwards?"

Natsu couldn't believe his luck. "Sounds great," he said quickly before she could change her mind. "Dinner or something?"

"Cool. You pick a place, I'm not too fussed."

"Sure thing!"

"I'll see you Saturday then! Gonna go now, I have an early start."

"Awww," he whined.

"Sorry," she giggled.

He huffed. "Fine. See you Saturday, Luce. Sleep well!"

"Bye!"

…

The university had a gorgeous modern sports centre where they held all home sports matches against other institutions. St Makarov's and Magnolia Tech were long-time rivals, both with high academic reputations, two of the best universities in the country. The winter sun beat down as Natsu approached the centre with the rest of the MMA team, and he felt the adrenaline for his upcoming match start to kick in.

The centre was already bustling with people, students from both colleges who we milling around and making their way into the arena. This Saturday, it was hosting a range of different matches against MagTech, including MMA, Karate, Judo, Taekwondo, and a number of other combat sports. It had turned into a pretty massive event. Natsu even spotted a merchandise stall- that guy from Gray's party (Max?) was manning it, and from the amount of Makarov flags and foam fingers there were in the crowd, it looked like he was making a killing.

"Let's floor 'em this year," Gray said determinedly.

"Time to man up," Elfman commented, grinding his fist into his palm absently.

"Anyone seen Jellal?" Loke asked.

"He'll show up. He always does," Gray responded easily. "Let's get to the changing rooms, match starts in a half hour."

Natsu trailed behind everyone, scanning the masses of people. Suddenly a bright blond head, next to a much shorter blue one, swam into view. Lucy waved madly at him as she hurried after Levy into the stands, giving him her widest, most encouraging smile.

Natsu grinned. No way was he losing now.

…

"Ladies and gentlemen, a big round of applause please for St Makarov's men's Mixed Martial Arts team!"

The boys from St Makarovs emerged from the changing room to loud cheers and fluttering purple flags. The stands surrounded a central sparring pad, rising up to the high ceiling, packed with people from both sides of the game.

"And the away side for today's match, the men's Mixed Martial Arts team of Magnolia Tech!"

A roar erupted from one side of the room, red flags waving madly. Natsu spotted five guys emerging from the other changing room entrance, acknowledging their fans cheerfully.

Natsu's eyes darted to the press section, where Lucy's bright eyes met his.

"This one's for you, Luce," he said almost to himself. His desire to impress her was unprecedentedly strong.

"Aw Natsu, you didn't tell us your _girlfriend_ was here to cheer you on," Gray teased. "That is just too cute."

"GRAAAAYYYY SAMMAAAAA" a female voice carried over the noise of the crowd, reaching the team's ears. Gray looked mortified as he spotted Juvia waving both arms to get him to look at her.

"You were saying?" Natsu glanced at him sideways, amused.

"Also, where is your shirt." Natsu didn't even bother phrasing it as a question.

"Who cares? We're not supposed to fight with them on anyway." Unlike the other guys who were still wearing the St Makarov's MMA team jackets, Gray was already bare-chested and ready to go. The rules prevented competitors from wearing the loose-fitting clothing favoured by traditional styles, to avoid certain holds being used in the fight. Natsu had a sneaking suspicion this was why there were an unusually large number of female fans.

"First match, lightweight category. We have Gray Fullbuster of St Makarov's versus Lyon Vastia of Magnolia Tech", came the announcer's voice loudly over the PA.

"Lyon?" Gray said in surprise as he rose from the bench.

"Know him?" asked Loke.

"Yeah, I went to high school with him… he was like, my biggest rival," Gray finished, sounding a bit amazed.

"Well then, you go and TAKE HIM DOWN," Elfman roared, slapping Gray on the back and almost into the ring.

"They're approaching the octagon!" The commentator declared.

Lyon, a guy with similar build to Gray's but with hair as white as his was black, climbed into the sparring area. The smirk on his face mirrored Gray's with eerie similarity.

"This looks like it's going to be a good one, folks! And here comes the referee."

A short, wizened looking old man arrived, placing himself between Gray and Lyon as they sized each other up.

"You know the rules. Mouthguards in, gloves on. 5 minutes on the clock. Each landed hit scores a point. The round can end before 5 minutes is up if you tap out or verbally submit, or I determine you're unable to continue, which is obviously an automatic win for your opponent. Otherwise the round ends in a knockout."

The two figures nodded grimly, never taking their eyes off each other.

"Ready?" The referee queried.

"Begin!"

The crowd's noise was muted as everyone breathlessly watched the start of the fight. The two boys calculated for about 5 seconds, then suddenly went for each other at exactly the same time.

"Ooooh," a collective exclamation went up from the audience as Gray landed a kick on his opponent.

"Fullbuster has scored a point for Makarov's," came the announcement over the PA. "That's one-"

The man didn't get to finish before Lyon had managed to get an identical kick right under Gray's guard.

"-One all, as Vastia has just scored for MagTech, using the exact same technique as Fullbuster's!"

Excited murmuring rippled through the spectators, as the boys launched into a series of sparring attacks and defence. Natsu watched carefully, noting that Lyon indeed had extremely similar tactics to Gray's, favouring specific types of kicks that he knew from experience were meant to be Gray's specialty.

"It's 6 all, and a minute left on the clock!"

Natsu felt the collective nerves of his benchmates. Gray was looking tired, puzzled as to how to fight an opponent who used the same techniques he did.

Determination flashed across his face, as he geared up to get himself in a stance that Natsu rarely saw him use.

"But Gray _sucks_ at that move!" he said out loud. Loke elbowed him hard.

In the octagon, Lyon had launched into another of Gray's signature kicks. Instead of retaliating with his usual pattern, quick as lightning, Gray brought up his right leg in a block, then his forearms forward to a high shoulder punch. The move was risky as it left one side exposed. If it was the side Lyon was going for, he'd be finished.

"-A brutal hand technique from Fullbuster leaves Vastia floored!"

Lyon had gone down cursing like a sailor.

The buzzer went to signal time, and Gray straightened up triumphantly.

"The match goes to Gray Fullbuster of St Makarovs, a close win at 12-11! That certainly was an exciting match."

The audience had erupted into applause cheering both sides. Gray faced Lyon and bowed formally, Lyon doing the same in return, albeit slightly grudgingly.

"I think we both need to learn some new tricks," Gray said to him ruefully.

"Having the same teacher puts us in a tough position as opponents," Lyon agreed. "Thank you for the fight. It certainly taught me a lesson or two."

"Catch up with you later, man" Gray grinned as he made his way off the platform.

The cheers quietened as the PA system crackled to life again. "After that first match, Makarov's is leading MagTech by one nil. This is a best of five though, so it's still anyone's game. Our next round is a heavyweight category; representing St Makarov's, it's Elfman Strauss!"

Elfman stood up, shrugging off his team jacket. "Oh yeah. MMA is the MANLIEST."

"And representing MagTech, Jäger… huh. Either someone forgot to give me his last name, or he doesn't have one." The announcer sounded confused.

A beefy guy with no discernible neck stomped into the arena. "This thing is gonna be WILD."

The referee approached once again. "Ready?... Begin!"

…

"That was fast." Loke commented.

One minute after the bell had rung to start the match, and Elfman was already back in his seat, after landing a single punch that had knocked his opponent flat.

"KO'd!" Gray said enthusiastically, giving Elfman a high five.

"He may have been wild, but he sure wasn't manly," he responded with no small amount of smugness.

"… and after a brutal KO from Strauss, Makarov is left with a two nil lead! Who knows folks, winning the next match could give Makarov's an early victory this time."

Natsu seriously hoped he was up next. He wanted his match to mean something since Lucy was watching.

"Next round is middleweight; representing St Makarov's, it's Natsu Dragneel!"

"Finally!" he grinned, standing and shrugging off his jacket. "I'm all fired up!"

"And from MagTech, it's one of their top performers. He just about qualifies for the middleweight, almost over the category limit there, while Dragneel looks like a barely qualified from the other side…"

"Hey!" Natsu said indignantly.

"Representing MagTech, it's Gajeel Redfox!"

A man (it seemed almost silly to refer to him as a 'guy') rose from the opposing bench, long black hair bound back and his many facial piercings glinting under the arena lights. He looked Natsu straight in the eye as he very deliberately started to remove them.

"He looks fricking hardcore," Loke commented. "I sure am glad I'm not up against him!"

"Gee thanks." Natsu responded sarcastically. He steeled himself anyway. Just cos a guy had skull tattoos on his neck and piercings in his… everywhere, didn't mean he was some sort of badass or something. He pushed down the small voice in his brain that claimed this was the very definition of badass.

"Would you get up here please? I haven't got all day," the irritable referee called to the both of them. Natsu shook himself out of his daze, and mounted the octagon to tumultuous applause.

"Looking forward to the fight, runt," grunted the terrifying opponent in front of him.

"How's the weather up there?" was Natsu's very mature comeback.

"Ready?" called the ref. Natsu and Gajeel Redfox took up forward stances, in preparation to spring into action.

"Begin!"

Natsu was usually straight out the box at the start of any match, but amazingly, Gajeel was even more proactive. Before Natsu could register what had happened, a strong half turning kick was delivered right at his side.

"Ooof!" he went, in surprise.

"And that's one point to MagTech's Redfox! From the speed at which that point was won, it looks like this fight may get MagTech back in the running."

Natsu sprang backwards, suddenly on the defensive. This wasn't his optimal game; he usually worked best being continually on attack, but Gajeel was forcing him to re-evaluate his strategy.

Another kick was launched at him, this time a brutal axe that came down hard on his shoulder.

"That's two points already! The strikes are coming too fast for Dragneel to block!"

"Get your head in the game!" Gray's frustrated voice drifted through the roaring in his ears.

"This isn't High School Musical!" he wanted to retort. But Gajeel was right in front of him and he was pretty sure he was the type to heavily judge anyone with knowledge of High School Musical.

"Pick up the pace man," Gajeel grunted, as he feinted a punch that had Natsu jumping away in panic. Gajeel chuckled. "Even if you're gonna lose to me, you could at least make it worth my while."

Natsu had had just about enough at this point. "If you say so, dude."

He switched off his shock at having an opponent who attacked more aggressively than he did, and went into a mental zone where hours of training made his defensive blocks instinctive. Gajeel launched more kicks that didn't land, with Natsu deflecting everything with ease.

"My turn," he said to himself, and started to move faster than he could remember doing in all of his MMA competitions. Gajeel aimed a punch at his head, and Natsu blocked with his arm, inside out, grabbing Gajeel's own arm in the process. He shifted seamlessly into a backwards stance and landed two successive half turn kicks to the man's side before he realised what was happening.

"Makarov's is in play again, Dragneel's manoeuvre just earned him two points! They're now two all, two minutes into the match."

Gajeel broke Natsu's arm hold with a loud grunt, sending the other fist flying towards his solar plexus. Natsu had already moved out the way. He tried for a roundhouse kick to Gajeel's head, but was blocked by a low arm; Natsu realised his opponent's height gave him a significant advantage, and none of Natsu's kicks could get high enough to hit his most vulnerable spot.

But that advantage could become a disadvantage.

Natsu took another punch to the shoulder as he positioned himself for his further attacks. Gajeel was leading, but only just; if he could get his next hits in fast enough, Natsu could overtake him easily.

"Two minutes to go for this match, it's looking close!" the commentator announced.

Natsu ducked a head kick from Gajeel, and stayed low to the ground. He directed all of his punches from underneath towards his opponent's stomach. Gajeel wasn't expecting this at all, and Natsu gained two more hits; as Gajeel moved his arms to block low, Natsu span around him, getting a kick straight into the small of his back.

"Go Natsu!" cheered Elfman from the bench.

Gajeel's bulkier frame made it simpler for Natsu to manoeuvre around him and reach undefended areas. He didn't risk a hold, as Gajeel looked strong enough to get out of it, and there was no point trying to force submission when he could get points through strikes. Gajeel however was in exactly the opposite situation; and being 3 points down, he realised that getting Natsu to submit was his only option to win.

One misstep, and Gajeel had Natsu in the strongest lock he'd ever experienced in his life. His arms were painfully contorted round his back and neck, Gajeel pressuring them so that he couldn't move, no matter what he tried.

"Submit!" he snarled, as Natsu struggled.

"No!" Natsu yelled back. There was less than a minute on the clock. If he could hold on until the end of the match, he was ahead by enough points to win.

Gajeel squeezed his hold so hard that an involuntary cry of pain escaped Natsu's lips. He'd never show weakness in front of anyone, but it was becoming, ah, _painfully_ apparent that if he didn't do something soon, something of his would get broken.

"I will take this further," Gajeel threatened.

Natsu looked upwards with difficulty. Through his messy hair and the sweat gathering on his forehead and on his lashes, he spied a familiar bright blond head in the audience. He thought he could see the anxious expression on her face, and he remembered why he was here; why today was so special.

"I will not look weak," Natsu's inner monologue intoned. "Especially not in front of her!"

With herculean effort, Natsu twisted his leg into a backwards kick with enough strength and accuracy to push Gajeel slightly off balance. That was all he needed. A second later and he was free, turning and aiming a somewhat unrefined cascade kick towards Gajeel's thigh.

"And it's another point for Makarov's!"

The buzzer went to signal time, and Natsu collapsed onto his knees, wheezing. The stands went wild with thunderous applause. Gajeel rubbed the side of his leg, shaking his head.

"Don't think I've ever come across a guy as stubborn as you," he said. But his tone held grudging respect- fighter to fighter.

Natsu finally gained the ability to stand up, and bow to his opponent. "That's one heck of a hold you've got."

"And that's some back kick," he replied, a hint of curiosity in his tone.

"I got a girl watching," Natsu said proudly. Gajeel grimaced slightly, as if he hadn't expected this level of sharing.

"I want a rematch, Dragneel."

"You're on, anytime."

Natsu exited the octagon feeling absolutely elated, if still a little short of breath.

"Makarov wins this game with 3 matches under the belt out of 5!" the announcer was saying over the still continuing cheers. "But we've still got two friendly matches to go, because these games are all about sportsmanship."

His benchmates sprang up to gather him in a manly embrace (as Elfman would call it), exchanging fist bumps and high fives.

"Loke Leo from St Makarov's is up next, for a lightweight category, and will be opposing Hibiki from MagTech."

Loke stood up, removing his jacket and making a move to straighten an imaginary tie.

"See you on the other side, guys," he mounted the steps to the platform where another boy with an angelic face waited for him. A collective female sigh escaped the audience, and a round of subdued, embarrassed laughter straight afterwards.

"Time to make the fans proud," Loke grinned.

…

"My face! My beautiful face!" Loke lamented yet again as the final match result was announced.

"St Makarov's wins the men's MMA 4 games to 1, with the last game forfeited to MagTech due to a no-show" Was the verdict from the PA system.

"Cheer up, at least you won!" Natsu said happily. The team had stood up and started to make their way out of the arena to the hallway, on their way to the changing rooms.

"If Jellal had been here, we'd have taken this 5 nil," Gray said sounding slightly irritated. "Where is that guy anyway?"

"It isn't like him to not show for something like this," Elfman interjected. "Hope he's ok."

"Oh he's ok," Natsu grinned as he pointed down the hall. There, exiting the Ladies changing rooms in an exceedingly shifty manner, was Jellal.

He stopped as he noticed his four teammates in front of him. Arms folded, unmoving, eyes questioning.

"Ah… hey guys," he ventured. Mysterious red stains covered his face. "How's it going?"

"We won. No thanks to you." Gray said venomously.

"Anything _important?_ " Loke asked, eyebrows waggling suggestively.

"Jellal, you forgot your- oh hey guys," Erza had popped her head out of the changing room, dressed in a white ghi already secured by her black belt. Her red lipstick matched her hair, and Jellal's face, to perfection. She held out a Makarov team jacket to Jellal who cringed slightly before taking it.

"I must go, I have a Karate match starting soon. See you later!" The last bit was said in a singsong voice, as her red hair disappeared into the changing room.

"So she's in an absurdly good mood," Natsu commented, leaning on a wall casually.

"I take it the match finished early," Jellal changed the subject nervously.

"Yeah, I KO'd this guy in like the first 10 seconds," Elfman said proudly.

"Next time, be there are the _start_ of the game," Gray told him dangerously. "And how did you know you were going to be last, anyway?"

"I may have… bribed the match planners… a bit."

Natsu started laughing, as Gray looked furious, Loke looked disinterested and Elfman looked impressed.

Gray opened his mouth to say something else but was distracted by a siren's cry.

"Gray-samaaaaaa!" came Juvia's voice from somewhere down the hall.

"Shit!"

Gray went with a primal instinct to run down the hallway, though why he still did so given his casual dating of the girl was a mystery to everyone. Juvia tore past them all moments later in hot pursuit. "You know this place is a massive circle, right?" Natsu called after her helpfully. She skidded on her heels, whipped around and went racing the other way with hopes of intercepting her beloved.

Lucy and Levy came jogging from the direction Juvia had just arrived from, panting heavily.

"Hiya!" Lucy greeted, out of breath.

"Well done you guys, amazing match," Levy wheezed, leaning on Lucy for support.

"Hey Luce!" Natsu was thrilled to see her, and gravitated automatically to her side.

"You were awesome out there," she smiled, gazing into his eyes.

Elfman cleared his throat meaningfully. "If you don't mind, I'm gonna go take a shower."

"You were only in the ring for 10 seconds," Loke snorted.

"Sweating is manly." Elfman argued back, as the two of them headed towards their changing rooms, the sound of their good natured bickering receding.

"I guess that leaves you, then," said Levy to Natsu in a business-like tone.

"Huh?" he said intelligently.

"Levy here wanted to ask someone from Makarov's a few questions, as well as someone from MagTech. I guess you'll be the one representing the team!"

Natsu cursed inwardly.

"Don't worry, it's literally just three questions!" Levy assured him seeing his face, whipping a notepad and pen seemingly out of thin air. "Now, firstly; what's your name, and how did you get into MMA?"

"Er, it's Natsu. Dragneel. And, erm. I guess I started… at school…?" he phrased it like a question. Levy finished scribbling and looked at him expectantly. "would you like to elaborate?" she pressed.

"Um… I was… sixteen? Maybe? And I picked it out of the other combat sports because it had the fewest rules." He beamed, while Lucy muttered "figures".

"Next question then. Can you describe your most memorable match, and say why it was your most memorable?"

"So, I would actually say today's match. And I remember it best 'cause it was the most recent."

Levy facepalmed, and Lucy elbowed him in the side.

"Oi, I got bruises there! Ok, I was kidding about it being because it was today. I reckon it is my most memorable though. It was one of my toughest opponents, and I recall having to seriously rethink my tactics in the match because he was so fast. He also had a lot of weight on me, so his hold was something fierce." Natsu's voice warmed as he got into describing the details of the match; it seemed that when it came to fighting, his brain was as switched on as Lucy's was when solving physics equations. "… and I decided that attacking fast and upwards was the best strategy."

" Yeah I noticed that hold. How did you find the energy to break it in the end?" Levy asked, intrigued.

"Well it was easy, after I thought about Lusss…. _zz-_ ing." He felt flames of embarrassment creep up his neck, having almost said Lucy's name. She was looking at him curiously. He cleared his throat. "Yeah. Losing. I hate losing. Yes. My, er, drive to win, is what, um, drives, me."

Levy looked at him knowingly. "Alright then, final question. What would you say to people who are thinking about starting a martial art?"

"I'd say go for it!" Natsu enthused. "Knowing how to fight and how to defend yourself is a really important skill. And it gives you so much confidence in whatever else you may be doing. You can end up making your best friends- I know I did! And the rush is like nothing else I've ever done."

Levy finished writing everything down, looking pleased.

"Alright, that's everything! Thanks a lot, Natsu."

The trio started to wander down the hall towards the changing rooms. "Do you know which room the MagTech team is in?" Levy asked Natsu. He pointed at a door they were about to pass. "I think it's that one."

Levy walked up to it with some trepidation, and gingerly knocked on the door, while Natsu and Lucy hung back slightly.

The door opened in a massive swing, almost causing Levy to fall through it.

"What?" grunted the imposing presence at the door.

Levy squeaked. "Um… hi! You're, Gajeel Redfox, right? I'm with Makarov campus quarterly, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions…"

The door slammed in her face, and Levy was left looking aghast.

"Well, I never! Of all the horrible-"

"Come back in five minutes, Shrimp!" came an almost threatening yell from behind the door.

Levy looked flustered and rather annoyed. "He didn't have to be so rude about it."

"I get the feeling that's just how that guy is," Natsu said. "I wouldn't take it personally."

Lucy and Natsu left Levy standing impatiently outside the MagTech door, as they made their way towards the Makarov's changing rooms. "I gotta take a real quick shower, then we can hang out?" Natsu clarified to Lucy. "I booked a super nice place for dinner, I think you're gonna love it!"

Just as they got to the other changing room door, Elfman burst out of it, wearing nothing but a towel, looking extremely harassed.

"Natsu!" he cried, as if in fright, when he saw them. Thankfully he didn't let go of the towel.

"Elfman? What's the matter?"

"The… um… the showers aren't working," he blurted out.

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? All of them?"

"Yep! Some, massive, catastrophic problem with the water supply. All out of order. No showering here. Nope. None. Nada."

Natsu still looked slightly disbelieving.

"Whoops, looks like you're gonna have to do something else for your shower now, what a shame!"

Elfman was standing protectively in front of the changing room door, his massive frame preventing anyone from getting past. "Is everything ok, big guy? You look like you've seen a ghost." Lucy asked in concern.

"More like a demon," Elfman muttered, then raised his voice to again repeat that he was fine, it was just that the showers were all out of commission.

"Well, could I at least get my bag, Elfman?" Natsu asked, attempting to squeeze past him.

"NO NEED" he basically screamed, as he dashed inside the doors, and reappeared moments later with Natsu's kit bag. "Ok, you're done, buh bye now, see you later you two!"

And with that, he vanished into the room.

Lucy and Natsu were left shellshocked outside.

"That was…" Natsu started.

"Bizarre." Lucy finished.

"Bit of a problem though," Natsu scratched his head. "I guess I'll have to head home to shower, and meet you later. It's a mega pain though, it's the complete opposite direction to town."

"You could use my shower," Lucy suggested.

Natsu looked at her in surprise. "Um, are you sure?"

"Why not?" she shrugged. "I live on the way to town. If you've got your stuff, we can stop by mine, you can shower, and we can get going."

"Cool," Natsu responded in relief, shouldering his bag. "Let's get going then!"

They traipsed towards the Centre exit, hand in hand. "What do you think Elfman's hiding? You reckon Evergreen is in there with him?" Lucy theorised.

"Hmm maybe. This entire thing smells like a woman's touch to me."

Natsu got a smack in the arm for that last comment, as they walked out the centre doors heading towards Lucy's place.

…

 ***Inside the St Makarov's Men's Dressing Room***

"You told them what I said to tell them?"

"Yes, yes, I did what you said!"

"And what's their plan now? Are they going back to her place?"

"I don't know, I didn't stay long enough to find out!"

"Never mind. If I know Lucy, I'm sure things are going the way I thought they would." Mirajane smiled slyly, as she patted her brother's back and exited past at least five perfectly operational showers.

* * *

 **TBC xoxo**


	7. impression success

**Finally finished chapter 7! Hope you enjoy this :)**

 **I am so grateful to my reviewers, especially those of you who have kept coming back to this story and left me repeated comments, you are epic :D I'm so sorry I haven't responded to anyone, but I PROMISE I will, your words make me feel so happy!**

 **This chapter is most certainly M. If not for the activities described, then definitely for the absolutely terrible-yet-awesome pun I put in there. Please leave a review that reassures me that you got it :P**

* * *

"Wow."

Natsu walked into Lucy's apartment and was immediately impressed. The studio flat was very pretty indeed, with a large French window overlooking the canal and letting in the soft dusk light. A warm coloured rug decorated part of the wood floor and little fairy lights adorned her desk, which was currently neatly laid out with an old-fashioned quill lying atop the creamy pages of her open notebook. She had at least two times the space he did, fitting in a couch and coffee table, even a compact dining table, desk and chair, and-

"A DOUBLE BED?!"

Natsu's eyes lit up as he threw his bag haphazardly away, ran across the room and flopped face first into it.

"Hey!" Lucy said indignantly. "I just changed those sheets! And don't you need to take a shower?"

The only response she got was a satisfied and muffled groan.

"Alright, up you go,"

Lucy grabbed Natsu's arms and attempted to haul him upright, him making noises of protest all the way.

"You're so fricking heavy," she grumbled, as she finally coaxed him into standing position and shoved him in the direction of the bathroom.

"Your bed is soooo comfy," Natsu said longingly, looking back over his shoulder at it.

Lucy gave him a final push through the bathroom door and closed it for him.

"Let me know if you can't get anything to work!" She yelled through the door. Moments later she heard the sound of the shower turning on and water running. Good, he wasn't all that dense then.

...

Natsu made a small rumble of happiness as the hot water ran over his sore skin. He was bruised in lots of places from the fight, and he tenderly skimmed over them with his hands. Lucy's apartment was seriously awesome, he reflected, as he turned up the temperature. The small bathroom quickly filled with steam, and the water pressure beat down on his back like a massage, beating any standard set by the trickle that passed as a shower in the shared bathrooms in his student block.

He hit a dilemma as he reached for his shower gel- remembering that it was outside in his bag. He grumbled in frustration. Leaving this haven seemed like the worst torture imaginable at this point in time. He scanned the side of the tub, spotting tons of girly looking products everywhere, bottles of every shape, size and scent ("tropical paradise"-mango, papaya and green melon... That sounds overly complicated... "Shower time Sunshine" maybe... But that one had sparkles in it, probably best to avoid... Original Source with Lemon and tea tree oil... WTF is tea tree oil... Did they just pull three totally unrelated words out of a hat...) He finally happened upon a bar of totally innocent looking, unassuming, white coloured soap. He picked it up and sniffed it cautiously. It seemed safe.

After lathering to his hearts content and washing away the suds (he even used the soap in his hair, cos he was non-discerning like that), he finally switched off the hot water. Stepping out onto the impossibly fluffy bath mat, he hit another snag.

His towel was in his bag.

Outside.

Fuck.

"Lucy?" He called tentatively from inside the bathroom. No response came through the door. "Lucy?" He tried again a little louder.

Natsu very cautiously tiptoed to the door, dripping water all over the tiles. He edged it open a smidge and looked through.

Lucy's room looked very decidedly empty. He called again for her, but received no response, though he could now hear some clanging noises like pots or plates from what was presumably the kitchen next door. Natsu shut the door again and hovered indecisively. Though he was brave, he wasn't quite brave enough to risk dashing out and potentially being caught by Lucy in the nude. God, what would she think of him. He spied a set of towels on a rail inside the bathroom, and made a decision; he'd just have to borrow one, then run to retrieve his own.

He grabbed one and wrapped it round his hips hastily. It was pink and extremely fluffy. Towel secure, he edged the door open again.

"Lucy?" He called tentatively. Still no response.

Natsu practically leapt out of the bathroom towards the front door, where his bag was lying where he dumped it earlier. He scooped it up with triumph, and turned to run back to the safety of the bathroom.

"Uh."

Lucy stood opposite him, in front of the bathroom door, having just exited from the kitchen next to it. Her mouth hung open slightly, eyes completely fixed on him. She looked shell shocked.

After a few moments of mutual dumbstruck silence, Natsu spoke first.

"I'm sorry," he blurted. "I forgot my bag, and I didn't have a towel, so I borrowed yours. I'll wash it, I swear!"

Lucy finally found her voice.

"That's... My hand towel."

Ah. Well that would explain the size. Natsu had wondered how Lucy could get by with such a tiny towel, especially considering that she had... Er... More to cover.

"Right," was all he said, as he adjusted his hand to hold the folds in place a little more firmly.

"It... Matches your hair."

So it does, Natsu thought. Maybe I should invest in some pink towels.

"Yea. I suppose," he laughed nervously. He shouldered his bag, keeping one hand on the towel, he approached the bathroom door. "I'm really sorry, again; I'll just, like, get dressed..."

He was almost at the door.

Problem was, Lucy hadn't moved from in front of it.

He slowed down, till he was eventually standing right in front of her. Her eyes were definitely turned towards him, but they seemed unfocused... As he got closer, it became evident that they weren't trained on his face.

"Lucy?"

"Yeah?" Her eyes snapped up to his own suddenly, as she noticed the extremely narrow space between them, and a fiery blush covered her throat.

"I need to get past you," he said lowly.

Something had shifted in the air between them. The way Lucy was being affected by him... It caused heat to pool in Natsu's belly, seeing her stare at him like that. His voice came out huskily, her nearness making him feel electrified all over his skin. His bare chest, drops of water still sporadically sliding down it, was centimetres from Lucy's chest... And as her chest was so much further forward than the rest of her body, Natsu hadn't even noticed when he'd gotten this close. Lucy's breathing had subtly sped up. Natsu's own heartbeat increased its pace, and as she gazed up at him, he noticed changes starting to take place elsewhere in his body too.

Specifically, under his towel.

...Or more accurately her towel.

"I really need to get past you, Luce," he said in a strained voice. He shifted his bag in front of him, hoping to God that she didn't notice his steadily growing arousal.

She blinked.

"Oh... Yeah. Sorry, my bad!" She gave a nervous laugh, and stepped to the side, allowing Natsu to scurry into the bathroom. He quickly closed the door behind him, and exhaled heavily.

"Too close," he thought to himself, as he pulled his towel, jeans and a shirt out of his bag.

...

He came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, fully clad and hair sticking up at odd angles from where he had mussed it up drying it with the towel. He self consciously ran fingers through it to calm it down.

Lucy was sitting on the couch, wearing jeans with a light, black sweater, in some sort of clingy material that hung off her curves tantalisingly. She was also wearing a rather funny look on her face. He went to join her.

"Hey. Sorry about the whole towel thing..."

He trailed off uncertainly as Lucy scooted closer to him. She moved till her hips almost touched his side, and turned to look into his face searchingly. His breath caught as he stared back, eyes inches apart... She was so close that it was hard to see both of her eyes at once, and Natsu started to think about whether it was better to just focus on one of them instead of getting a hazy image of both. His own eyes began to water with the effort. His indecision was driving him mad when she seemed to make a decision of her own, and leaned forward to kiss him.

A moment later it was evident that this was not intended as a temporary thing. Lucy transitioned to open mouthed, full on French, and his brain was so addled it could do nothing but comply. Vision concerns were entirely forgotten as his eyelids closed of their own accord, and Natsu got lost in the sensations her mouth instigated in him. The erection he'd managed to slightly calm through sheer willpower was back in full force.

"God, Lucy," he groaned, involuntarily.

Her only response was to deepen the kiss further, something Natsu hadn't even considered possible.

She coaxed him into lying down without him realising it, and Natsu again felt her comfortable warm weight partially on his body. She was so small, really; curious hands fanned from her waist to her hips, pressing through her clothes. Moans built in her throat, causing Natsu's body to react of its own accord. Until now she'd been hovering slightly above him, but he instinctively grasped her hips and pulled her down.

She gasped. Ah yes, Natsu remembered. My erection. Well, there was no way she hadn't noticed it now.

Lucy's frantic kisses slowed, as she processed what she'd just felt against her tummy. Her eyes opened, still half lidded with lust, as she looked curiously into Natsu's face. His expression had want written clearly all over it, but had a hint of guardedness.

All she knew she wanted right now was the feel of his body against her own. Still touching him from chest to toe, she performed an experimental full-body shift up his form.

"Luce!" Natsu moaned out, gripping her hips harder.

Emboldened, her lips were back on his, but now he could feel her on him everywhere. The area between his legs was especially aware of every move she made, and now she began to stretch leisurely on top of him, making all sensation a hundred times more heightened.

It was amazing, but still cautious. Pressure was building in him agonisingly slowly. Her inexperience was so endearing to him, but he was seized by the desire to show her how good he could make her feel.

He started to fight his way into sitting position and met with little resistance. She wasn't quite straddling him, the position probably a bit too intimate for her to handle right now; so far, she'd never placed herself in the exact position he wanted, in which he could fit right in with her gorgeous body. But there was no rush. They ended up kneeling on the couch, lips still locked. Lucy's hands had begun to roam, and reached the hem of his t-shirt; they skimmed underneath the edge, clearly wanting to reach further but too shy to do so.

Natsu brought his hands from where they'd rested round her back, and grasped the hem of his t-shirt. He brought his mouth away from hers and looked at her a little questioningly. Seeing nothing there but breathless anticipation, he swiftly pulled off his shirt.

The resulting strangled intake of breath from her throat was the most gratifying thing he'd heard all day. She was looking at his tanned skin in fascination. He watched as she put a hesitant pale hand on his shoulder, and slowly dragged it down, exploring the contours of his chest. Her gaze was fixated on his abs, six incredibly defined and a bonus two peeking out at the bottom.

He took a hold of her other hand, and placed it on his chest as well. She was startled, but didn't make eye contact. Again, she resumed a feather-like touch, both hands nearing his abdomen. Natsu leaned forward to speak huskily near her ear.

"That tickles, Luce."

She jumped, and bit her lip adoringly. "I'm sorry," she said, quickly withdrawing her hands.

Just as quickly, Natsu grabbed them both and placed her palms flat on his pectorals. "Don't be," he said, nudging her throat with his nose, drawing out another subtle moan. "You can press harder. I'm not gonna break."

She took his advice, giving Natsu in to wonderful pleasure as her hands become bolder. He shifted closer and resumed the kiss, till their chests touched, causing her hands to move towards his hard back muscles instead. Nothing she did set any of his bruises off, in fact, she made him forget they were there.

He broke the kiss briefly again to say "you know, if you wanted my shirt off so bad, why'd you make me get dressed in the first place?"

She let out a laugh, and shoved him lightly. "Shut up!"

He chuckled. "Yes ma'am," he conceded, and put his mouth back on hers with renewed force and vigour.

He started to really take control of the kiss now, intent on bathing her body in pleasure like she'd never known. Lucy was crowded downwards into the cushions, and Natsu laid his body out above hers. Breaking away from her mouth, he trailed kisses down her neck, remembering how much she'd liked it the last time.

Now this ...really ...doesn't seem ...fair," he commented, speaking between his ministrations and above Lucy's delighted gasps. "I'm not wearing any clothing above my waist, though... To my count you're wearing... Three different items above yours."

He drew back to see her fierce blush, but still that longing and pleasured expression, and grinned down at her in satisfaction.

"I take your point," she responded breathlessly.

Leaning up, she drew off her clingy sweater in a smooth movement. Underneath she had on a simple white strappy top, and it was Natsu's turn to be speechless.

The swell of her curves was all RIGHT THERE. Ample skin was on proud display above her neckline, and the contours of her body drew him inwards, to stare at where that separating line disappeared into the shadows of the barely restraining material. A hint of pink lace peeked from one side. As he saw her underneath him, flushed and breathing hard; hair messy, eyes dark, with an air of wildness about her; he thought he'd never wanted something so much in his life.

His lips crashed down on hers again, and her hands eagerly came around his bare back to pull him down. He could feel the extra skin in contact with him now, her arms brushing against him from behind, and most erotically, the tops of her breasts pushing back at his chest from beneath.

He wedged a hand between their bodies, running it up her still covered stomach and skirting around her right breast, eliciting a cry of sheer delight. Encouraged, he moved his hand closer to his goal, and with her kisses getting more heated signalling her approval, he reached up and cupped her fully.

Lucy made a loud, unintelligible moan. Her back arched off the couch cushions, startling Natsu in it's force. Her breast was pushed firmly into his palm. He felt the area eagerly, the sensation turning him on to indescribable levels.

"Tell me what you like, Luce," he murmured in her ear, kneading the area under his hand through the fabric of the top.

"Everything," she said back, and brought her lips to Natsu's neck. Fire started to spread from the wet warmth she put there, and Natsu had to hand it to her- she was a fast learner.

His hands roamed under the tight hem of her figure hugging top, and grasped it.

"Can I...?"

She blinked up at him, and then nodded, shyly.

Natsu was doing backflips inside his head.

YESYESYESYESYES went his internal monologue.

She leaned up a bit, hand going to her top to help him take it off.

YESYESFUCKYES his mind screamed.

And then, cutting through the haze of his lust and the heat in his body-

A phone rang.

NO

NONONONONO

Lucy had desisted in removing her clothing, and was now blinking away the dark desire in her eyes. Her pupils focused on him, adorable smile forming on her face.

"One of us should probably get that..." she suggested.

Reciting expletives inside his head, Natsu carefully got off her, and headed to his bag in which his own phone was ringing merrily.

There wasn't a caller ID. He jabbed the receive button with a little more force then necessary.

"Yes?" He said curtly, to whoever the hell it was who dared to interrupt the best time he'd ever had in his life.

"Mr Dragneel?" queried a terribly formal, haughty tone.

"Yes?" He straightened up, alert.

This is the maitre d' from 'Le Crime Saucière'. We have in our records that you had made a dinner reservation at 7pm. It is now 7.15, and we are wondering if you will be arriving soon?"

Natsu swore under his breath.

"What was that sir?" Came the formal voice.

"Nothing," Natsu amended quickly. "Er... "

He craned his neck to look at Lucy, who looked back in concern.

"Are you able to change the table to perhaps 8pm?" Natsu tried.

"I'm afraid we're booked solid this evening sir, and if your aren't already on your way..."

"I understand," he replied wretchedly. "Thank you."

Natsu hung up the phone regretfully. Le Crime Saucière was one of Magnolia's classiest restaurants, and he'd really wanted to treat Lucy to a truly wonderful date. He'd even threatened his friends to make sure they wouldn't show up and gatecrash.

Sighing, he turned back to her, trying to find the words to let her down. Then she said the one most beautiful word she possibly could have said to him.

"Pizza?"

...

After hanging up the phone, Natsu picked up Lucy's laptop at her request and rejoined her on the couch, giving her a playful kiss before going online to order in. ("Any company but Deliveroo", Natsu implored, haunted by an image of Erza Scarlet striking him down, or Gray in exhibitionist shorts. "We know too many people who work for them.") The time until the pizza arrived was spent bickering good-naturedly about what to watch. Natsu clamped down on his lingering lust and wrapped an arm round Lucy's waist, enjoying cuddling her as they surfed the web.

He answered the door without remembering that he was wearing nothing but his jeans.

"Pegasus Pizza delivery, we're the fastest around! Did you order a..."

The girl on the other side of the door trailed off, surveying Natsu's bare chest with ill-concealed interest. She was a stunning, busty white-blond, the kind of girl who knew she was beautiful because she'd been told so many, many, times. "Well hi there, hotstuff." She purred, shifting her hips to stand in a more provocative position. "My name's Jenny. What's yours? And don't tell me you're eating all alone." She accentuated this statement with a sultry wink.

"No, he isn't."

Natsu felt Lucy's arms wrap around him from behind, and she stood on tiptoe to lean her chin on his shoulder. She nuzzled his neck a little for emphasis... Or maybe just because she liked it.

Natsu hadn't even registered the delivery girl's interest, as he dug in his pockets for change.

"Thanks a lot Jenny! I'm Natsu, this is Lucy. Hope you have a good shift!"

Pizza secured, he shut the door in Jenny's perfect and affronted face.

They polished off the food in record time, spending the rest of the evening cuddling on the couch watching the rest of a movie. Natsu soaked in everything; the silky feel of Lucy's hair as he kissed her head, the smell of her shampoo, mixed up with the delicious pizza aroma in the room that only made him love it more. At 11 when the movie ended, Lucy yawned in an adorable manner.

"I had better go," Natsu said, planting a light kiss on her head.

"Ok," said Lucy, sitting up, but she intertwined her fingers with his and squeezed his hand affectionately. Like a true gentleman, Natsu shrugged on his shirt, understanding that Lucy, for whatever reason, wasn't up for continuing on where they left off.

As he was lacing up his shoes, Lucy touched his shoulder lightly.

had a great time tonight," she told him, smiling.

He grinned back. "Let's do it again soon," he suggested, as the fluttery feeling in his stomach intensified.

"Definitely!"

At the door, he drew her into a tight hug. "Sleep well Lucy!"

"Goodnight Natsu. I'll see you soon!"

Once in the street outside her building, Natsu glanced up at Lucy's window. Sure enough, there she was; when she made eye contact with him, she looked a little embarrassed, but nevertheless returned Natsu's cheery wave. He set off down the street, whistling quietly, lit by soft streetlights glimmering warmly back at him in the still night water of the canal.

* * *

 **TBC :) and sorry about the formatting my laptop's down and tablet won't let me do stuff properly, I'll fix it soon!**


	8. party time

**Obligatory party scene!**

 **Helpful references: BYOB = bring your own booze, i.e. provide your own alcoholic beverage if you want to drink at this party**

 **Ring of Fire= drinking game. Btw, in real life, when it's your turn to drink it's actually reaaally easy to get away with taking a tiny sip. Tip for if you don't wanna get drunk but still play :p**

 **Categories= don't know if there's anyone out there who hasn't played this, but just in case, the idea is everyone has to come up with something that fits in the category, and if you take too long to think of something you lose (and in a ROF context, you drink!)**

 **Fairy tail = not mine.**

 **Disclaimer: People get tipsy here but not catatonic, because that is never fun for anyone :(**

 **I hope this makes you happy! :) :) :) Your follows, favs and reviews make ME happy! :) :) :)**

* * *

 **LEVY AND LAKI'S END OF TERM PARTTTYYYY**

-read the enthusiastic event title on Natsu's social media invite.

He clicked on the notification thoughtfully. _Invited by Lucy Heartfilia._ No way was he gonna miss this.

'Attending' the event without a second thought, Natsu spared a glance at the description.

Hi guys! It's been a busy first term at St Makarovs, and I'm sure everyone wants to let off a little steam :p Hope you can all make it to our party! Feel free to invite a few other friends, it's gonna be super casual so we can catch up with the old, and mingle with the new. BYOB because we're students and we're broke. Lots of love, Levy and Laki xx

The other attendees already included Erza and Jellal, Juvia, Mirajane, Elfman and Evergreen. Natsu checked to see if Gray had been asked. He hadn't. Natsu smirked. He added Loke to the mix, holding off on Gray for the moment just so he could taunt him about it later.

His phone chirped with a message from Lucy.

 **Lucy H.:** Hey!

Natsu typed his reply in.

'Hey beautiful!'

He looked at it before sending, considering carefully.

He chickened out and changed the second word.

 **Natsu D.:** Hey Lucy!

 **Lucy H.:** I see you're coming to Levy's :) Sounds like fun, right?

 **Natsu D.:** Yeah, looks awesome! What should we take?

 **Lucy H.:** "We"? :p You want to bring something together? Lol

The reply was teasing but Natsu immediately started to sweat.

 **Natsu D.:** Whoops, typo! I meant 'me' haha

 **Lucy H.:** You meant… "what should 'me' take"?

Natsu facepalmed. But he forgot he was holding his phone- so he kind of, facephoned. A rounded rectangle imprint was left on his forehead.

 **Natsu D.:** Look, my grammar sucks ok? Just lemme know what I should buy

 **Lucy H.:** Mmmhmm. Sure. Well, I'm not much of a drinker. Wanna get a mixer?

 **Natsu D.:** Wine it is.

 **Lucy H.:** I'm enough of a drinker to know that wine is not a mixer.

 **Lucy H.:** … I may also have googled it to make sure.

 **Natsu D.:** Haha ok, I'll pick up something later :p

 **Lucy H.:** Cool!

…

On the Thursday next week, Natsu sat at his desk, bored stiff with work. His laptop was down, the battery having run out and his charger having broken earlier. Nothing at all to do with him trying to pull the plug out the wall socket while sitting all the way across the room from it. Nope. Definitely not caused by his own stupidity.

He'd been trying to do any paper-based assignments he had (actually pretty rare these days), and looking up relevant info on his tiny phone screen. It currently held information on factorisation. _Factorisation,_ for crying out loud. He'd done this at age 12 and couldn't remember a fricking thing.

His phone rang, mercifully, to save him from his ineptitude. He checked the number. Unknown. Huh.

He answered it gingerly. "…Hello?"

"Natsu! Thank goodness you picked up. It's Levy."

He relaxed. "Oh hey, Levy! How's it going?"

"Not ideal. Sorry to bother you- I got your number from Lucy, as you weren't replying to any online messaging."

"Laptop's down," he said forlornly. "Anyway, what's up?"

"You remember the interview you did for me? Now _Makarov's Quarterly_ wants a photo to go with it, and I forgot to take one. It goes to print in an hour! Can you send me something, or can I use something off your online profile…?"

Natsu sat up, considering. "Hmm… I had some good MMA action shots on my laptop, but it's dead right now. But feel free to use my profile picture!" He hadn't changed the thing in like a year anyway, it was a fairly safe headshot with him smiling at the camera.

"Would that be ok? Thank you! Could you just do me a favour and send me a text giving me permission?"

"Sure thing," Natsu said. "Will do."

"You're a lifesaver. Gotta get the photo in now- just send me that message when I hang up!"

The line went blank, and Natsu dutifully added Levy to his contacts and sent a text.

He had a reply a few moments later.

 **Levy M.:** Thank youuu also excited to see you at our party tomo yay!

He chuckled. That girl was almost more enthusiastic about writing than Lucy.

…

She was wearing in a baby blue skater dress, paired with little grey suede ankle boots and a longish, stylish grey coat on top. The look was completed with a pair of impossibly fluffy earmuffs and the softest scarf he had ever felt in his life. He knew, because when he'd leaned in to peck her on the cheek the texture of it begged him to stay. It was like a cotton-wool cloud.

He reflected this was the most wrapped up he'd ever seen her outdoors, and approved that she was finally paying attention to the temperature.

"It's freezing!" she still said, snuggling into his side as they walked from his apartment towards Levy's block. Her breath caught on the frozen air, captured by streetlights.

He laughed slightly, and snuck his free hand round her waist. The other clutched a plastic bag with a spirits bottle and some lemonade for mixing.

"I noticed you didn't bring anything in the end," he pointed out to her, as they walked. She turned her innocent brown eyes up at him.

"But I thought you said we were getting something _together!_ " she said mischievously.

She got an elbow nudge in the side for that, and between laughs, told him she'd pay him back, while Natsu protested with futility.

Levy shared a small flat with another student a year above her, named Laki. She opened the door to them, lilac hair clouded around the rims of her cute glasses. Music and excited chatter spilled through the open doorway.

"Hey Lucy, come on in. And who's this?"

Lucy responded almost absent-mindedly.

"Oh, this is my boyfriend, Natsu."

Time stopped.

Natsu gazed at her in wonder.

"Did you just… did you just call me, your… your…"

Lucy had begun to blush beet red, realising what she'd said; the first time she'd ever called him that. Outside her head, anyway.

"I mean. This is my, Natsu. Not, like, _my_ Natsu. You can't own a person. They abolished slavery, umm, in the, 1800s. Just Natsu. Laki, this is Natsu."

Laki looked at her weirdly.

"Right. Well, I have to, do some stuff. Just… close the door when you come in. Okay?"

She retreated from the doorway, bemused, while Natsu and Lucy looked at each other, stammering.

"I… Do you really think I'm.. do you think of me as, you know, your…" Natsu tried to force words out.

"Not if you don't want… I mean, just, forget it, hahaha, like, what?" she giggled nervously, peeking at him from under her hair all the time.

"You know what?" he said abruptly.

"What?" she bit her lip, responding to his change in tone.

"I have the most amazing girlfriend."

With those words, he closed the gap between them, striding towards her, cupping her face with both hands and lips descending. Lucy sighed in longing and relief, arms closing around his back and pulling him closer…

"Wow. This is _some_ party."

Natsu and Lucy drew apart, both more than a little irritated.

"Cana," Lucy groaned. "Why."

Cana seemed to not have gotten the message about BYOB. She was carrying enough alcohol to provide for an army (on leave). It was more like, BYOB, and everyone else's B too.

"Levy's bedroom has a lock, you know," she winked at them as she passed by.

"Let's… talk." Natsu gave Lucy a heated stare, and just liked that, dragged her through the door, past the living room where party guests had started up conversations, towards the corridor where the bedrooms supposedly were.

"Hi Levy, bye Levy-" she managed, seeing Levy's surprised face as she was whisked past the others.

Natsu practically pushed her through a bedroom door, dark and thankfully empty apart from a pile of coats on the bed. He kicked it purposefully shut behind them.

"So," he began, enjoying Lucy's expression that ranged somewhere between terrified and _extremely_ turned on. "We're doing this, huh?"

"What, in _here?"_ She asked dazedly. "Natsu, I don't think this one has a lock on it-"

"No- I mean, we're doing this, boyfriend, girlfriend, thing," he cut in quickly, gesturing between themselves. "This… relationship." He took her hands gently, and she stilled, breathing hard.

"I suppose we are," she whispered, as his face inched closer.

"All I needed to hear. Talk officially over."

He kissed her with unreserved passion, and she responded in kind. As their tongues met, sensuously exploring each other, her feet went on tiptoe to reach him more easily, arms locked firmly around his neck. Moans built in their throats, and the pile of coats was starting to look incredibly inviting.

"You can just leave your coats in here, guys!"

An unnecessarily loud voice, Levy's by the sound of it, announced from behind the door. Lucy and Natsu broke apart just as it swung open, flooding the room with light from the corridor. They blinked guiltily. Caught.

"Wonder what you guys were up to," Gray stood there, Juvia in tow, grinning knowingly.

"Gray, why are you here?" Natsu all but snapped. "You don't even HAVE a coat."

It was true. He was both coatless and shirtless.

"Dammit! Where'd it go!"

Gray barrelled back into the corridor, while Juvia gave them a friendly wave and followed. Natsu and Lucy shared a sigh and a warm glance, before she took his hand, sending sparks up his arm, and tugged him back towards the party.

…

In the dark bedroom, the pile of coats shifted.

"Are they gone?"

A scarlet head emerged from beneath a black furry hood, coats slipping over each other to reveal decidedly _un_ covered skin.

"I think so," A blue head, and a face with a characteristic red tattoo popped up from behind the side of the bed. A pale bare torso followed as the figure stood up, raking his hands through his unruly blue mop.

"God Erza. I knew we should have used Levy's room."

"Yes, this choice was misguided. I hear that one has a lock."

…

An hour later and the party was in full swing. Drinks flowed freely into cheap plastic cups, music blared from tripped out speakers, and there were crisp crumbs everywhere. Natsu found himself surprisingly engaged in conversation with Jet and Droy, while Lucy animatedly caught up with Levy. Guests had been streaming in at random intervals, people he'd met as well as some he'd never seen before; he recognised Evergreen, entering with three guys, including one with green hair, another wearing visor sunglasses, and a last, hulking blond presence exuding the air of danger.

The bell rang yet again, and Levy raced to open it.

"Hey, how's it- you!"

She broke off in surprise. Filling the doorway with an ominous dark aura, stood the man Natsu had faced off with in the ring the previous week.

"Gajeel, how's it going dude!"

Levy turned to Natsu in shock as he sauntered over to the door and gave Gajeel a fist bump. Which, even more astonishingly, he returned.

"You invited him?" she asked.

"I did actually," Juvia beamed, coming over. "Gajeel is an old school friend! I was so happy to see him in Magnolia!" she gave the man a happy hug. "Nice to see you too, shrimp," he said to Levy sarcastically, over Juvia's shoulder.

Levy flushed. "I was just surprised is all," she muttered. She shook herself out of her confusion. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Yeah sure. Whatever you got."

As Levy bustled off to the table, Natsu turned back to Gajeel. "So how are things with you? Oh hey, did Levy interview you last week?"

He nodded gruffly, entering the flat and shrugging off his coat. Then, inexplicably, he started to chortle.

"I read it this morning. Nice photo, man." He continued to snigger, leaving Natsu mystified.

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't seen it?" On cue, Jet and Droy popped up behind him. "Here!" one of them thrusted a copy of _Makarov Campus Quarterly_ at him. "We collect every issue!" "Levy's the best…"

Natsu flipped through the pages hurriedly until he found it.

There: his interview, next to a large colour photo of himself… being headlocked… by Gajeel.

He looked at the photo in horror. It was, to say the least, not flattering. His face was bright red, shining with sweat, contorted in a terrifying grimace, and worst of all, it looked very much like Gajeel was kicking his ass.

"LEVY!"

The poor girl, having just returned with a drink, jumped and spilled it all over herself.

"What?" She queried in a scared voice. Natsu kicked himself mentally, especially as he saw Lucy hurrying over. He continued in a far more reasonable tone.

"Err, where did you get this photo?"

"On your profile! Like you said!"

Natsu gazed at her in shocked disbelief. There was no way. He quickly fished out his phone and logged on to his profile, discovering that in fact, she was correct. 30 assorted likes and crying-with-laughter emoji notifications assaulted him with regards to the change.

There were only three people who could have taken this photo at this angle and this close up. And he was pretty sure he knew which one it was.

"FULLBUSTER!"

Natsu went charging across the room towards Gray, leaving some very confused people in his wake.

"I thought it was good," Levy ventured, uncertainly, over Gajeels uproarious laughter. "You know, an action shot."

…

"YOU'RE A DEAD MAN, ICE FREAK" Natsu announced upon arrival. Gray had been chatting with Max and one of Evergreen's friends, Freed, and looked up casually.

"Took you long enough to realise. I swear you never check your notifications-"

Natsu held up the student newspaper copy and shook it in Gray's face.

"LOOK! LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID!"

Gray took one glance and burst into cacophonic laughter. "Oh man, what? I'm sorry, I totally didn't mean for that to happen, but this is fucking priceless!"

Natsu swelled with rage and prepared a fist to the face.

"Time for party games!"

Cana interrupted in her usual flamboyant style, appearing in their midst twirling an unidentified bottle.

"We're playing ring of fire! Come sit down!"

"Right after I kill him, Cana," Natsu warned, rolling up his shirtsleeves.

Her eyes narrowed. "I _said_ , we're playing ring of fire."

"I heard you. Now I-"

"RING OF FIRE!"

With surprising strength and dexterity, she grabbed him by the lapels and sent him crashing to the floor, where he landed fortuitously next to Lucy, sitting in a circle with most of the party guests around a collection of face-down playing cards and a mysterious murky beverage.

He exhaled shakily. "O-kaaaay. I guess we're playing ring of fire, then."

…

Ring of fire was a traditional college party drinking game with highly flexible rules. Natsu tried to pay close attention to what was going on; each person picked up a card in turn, going round the circle, having to avoid creating a gap in a ring of cards around the probably fatal mix of unidentified alcohol types in the middle, on pain of having to consume said fatal mix. The number of the card corresponded to some sort of particular action.

"Six! Dicks!" Cana yelled a little too happily as she drew the six of clubs. The guys in the circle groaned, (with the exception of Elfman, who professed his pride at being a REAL MAN,) clutching their plastic cups and taking a swig.

"I though six was chicks," Lucy interjected, sounding confused.

"No, that would be four- whores", Erza responded to her with a completely straight face, as she drew a four herself.

The guys cheered as the girls in the circle drank, and Jellal drew the following card.

"What's a 3 do?"

"3 is me, right? You gotta drink."

"Nah, that'sh boring," Cana interrupted, loudly, waving her arms. "Let's play A and B! Shut your eyes Jellal, we pick who's A and B, then you say what they do!"

He obediently closed his eyes, and a whispered conference ensued, resulting in Levy being pointed at by half of those present, and Gajeel picked as well.

Jellal opened his eyes. "Erm… I dunno… er… A and B, swap shirts?"

Laughter exploded around the circle, as Levy burned and Gajeel roared. "Are you kidding me? Shrimp's shirt wouldn' even fit round my little finger!"

"Sorry, the rules of the game indicate you have to do it," Erza stated, biting back a smile.

"C'mon, Gajeel, let's get this over with," Levy stood up and gestured towards her room. This drew a collective "ooooohh," from the assembled crowd.

"Shut up! Stop being so immature!" Levy hissed as she departed, Gajeel stomping after her.

"Who's next?"

Loke, his arm round Laki ("we were meant to be together - listen to how good our names sound!" he'd expostulated, while she looked unimpressed), picked up a Queen.

"Oi, somebody tell me what this means?"

"Fuck you, questionmaster," Gray replied smoothly, drawing the next card (Laki had extricated herself from Loke's clutches and fled.)

"If you answer his questions, you have to drink," Natsu explained to Lucy helpfully.

"I got a 10." Gray flashed the card to the onlookers. "Categories! I pick… sexual positions."

"WHAT?" Lucy yelled.

"Don't you know any, Princess?" Loke asked her with a grin.

" _No_!"

"DRINK!" at least 10 hands pointed at her as she'd answered Loke's question; she grudgingly finished her vodka-coke.

"Let's get this going then" Gray said, grinning evilly. "Missionary."

Bo-ring, Natsu thought, unbidden.

"Reverse cowgirl!" Gray's neighbour, Juvia, announced, with too much enthusiasm. The turns continued round.

"Retrograde wheelbarrow!"

"69?"

"Um, _reverse_ missionary?"

"I… I… Um…" Lucy stammered as it got to her.

"Too late! Drink!" Cana laughed, reaching across to pat her on the back. "Oooh, an empty glass is a full glass!" she poured a generous helping of wine into Lucy's cup. She glared at Cana as she downed it.

"God Natsu, aren't you teaching her anything?" Gray asked with a grin.

"I already want to kill you," Natsu warned, as Lucy hid her face in her hair. "Don't make me come over there."

At this moment, Levy and Gajeel returned at last.

"You've been gone awfully long," Elfman waggled his eyebrows at them.

"Don't. Even." Levy's face was thunderous. Gajeels black muscle tee hang lower than her knees. He followed her, shirtless, with her crop top tied around his arm.

"It's like when a knight earns a lady's favour," Evergreen commented. "How terribly romantic!"

The glare Gajeel sent her way crushed this particular line of comment fairly quickly.

The game went on with more and more outrageous rules and challenges. Evergreen's friend, Bickslow, got a Jack, and was allowed to make the rule to replace the word "drink" with "masturbate". Lucy seemed particularly unable to get on board with this one. It was made especially worse by the fact that whenever she slipped up, everyone else would tell her to masturbate. Natsu noticed as she got steadily more and more tipsy- her face grew flushed and her eyes, whenever she looked at him, were wide and dark and _incredibly_ appealing.

"A sits on B's lap for the rest of the game," was Max's latest challenge, drawing another 3. Natsu and Lucy had been chosen as A and B… respectively.

"I can't sit in her lap, I'll crush her!" he protested, looking at her worriedly. She threw back her head and giggled like it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard.

"No it'sh ok Natshu, I'm fiiiiine," she insisted, as she tried to pull him into her lap. She wasn't very successful. "Natshuuuuuu", she cried, getting upset.

"Ok, ok, I'll just… here, how about I sit with my legs across you, alright?"

She complied quite happily, and Natsu's legs were pulled on top of hers. She settled her hands on them, and began to squeeze them methodically, like a cat. Natsu was starting to find it very difficult to concentrate.

Elfman drew the last King of the game. "Oh my god, you have to drink the punch!" Mirajane laughed gleefully.

"I'll do it," he said solemnly, grasping the glass. Gasps echoed around the circle- through the course of the game, it had been topped up with wine, vodka, lemonade, rum, cider, and goodness knows what else. "For I am a REAL MAN."

With these words, he tipped it back, finishing the last drop. Cheers resounded from the assembled guests, and Natsu's legs were bounced up and down as Lucy applauded crazily.

"That's the end of the game!" Cana stated. She'd grabbed the speaker remote, and started punching up the volume. "God I _love_ this song!"

She pulled up a surprised Loke to an empty part of the floor, entering into a wild dance, as the others rose and started to move, chattering and singing along themselves.

"This song is amaaaaazing!" Lucy looked at Natsu with those Bambi eyes, gaze unfocused and sexy as hell. "Let's dance!"

He couldn't say no to that. He stumbled after her, and jumped slightly as her hands gripped his hips, her forehead brought close to his, swaying in time with the music. A slow burn crept up his body. It was incredible how turned on this made him feel. Their hips touched, and he grasped her waist, closing his eyes. If he was behaving slightly inappropriately, everyone around them was too drunk to notice or care.

"Mmmm," a small sound came from Lucy, sending Natsu's nerves crashing into new heights of desire. The bass was slow, the beat dragged sensuously onwards, and she swayed and snapped her body in time.

"You're a great dancer," he breathed in her ear.

"Thanks," she replied, biting her lip again. A curtain of silky smooth messy blond hair fell across her eyes, and he put his hand up to brush it aside. She caught him totally by surprise as she kissed his palm, staring at him all the while she did so. It caused a sharp intake of breath and an involuntary groan from him.

"What are you doing to me," he whispered, almost to himself, as he pulled her tighter; hands still on her waist, not daring to move south as they itched so badly to do.

She didn't reply, just kept moving to the music, smiling.

The song changed, thankfully to something more upbeat. She pulled away from him, screaming happily, racing across the room to Erza who had just squealed in excitement herself. Natsu watched, bemused, as they joined hands and started to jump up and down.

"I believe they call this… their 'jam'". Jellal materialised beside him, making him jump.

"Dude, seriously! Don't do that!" he calmed down and looked back at Lucy, who was flailing wildly, yet still sexily. He couldn't help smiling- she was having so much fun.

"Apologies," Jellal said, smoothly. "How are things between you two anyway?" he continued conversationally.

"Great," Natsu said, dreamily. "Things are going great."

…

After a half hour of exuberant dancing, a neighbour threatened calling the college authorities, so the party broke up a little reluctantly. Lucy was still rather tipsy, and swayed slightly as she walked. She insisted it was because of the 'invisible music'. Yeah, sure Luce, Natsu thought.

He was walking her home through the cold winter streets of Magnolia. She laughed and giggled quietly, talking about how fun the party was, asking Natsu if he had fun as well. He assured her repeatedly that he had. They reached her front door, and Natsu tried to say goodbye.

"You're going?" She burst out, grasping his hands deploringly. "Don't go, I'm not tired!"

"What, seriously?"

"Yeah! Come up!"

She looked at him with that adorable, beautiful gaze, and Natsu reminded himself that she was still drunk.

"Ok… maybe I should just walk you in."

She practically screamed in happiness, and fumbled for her keys, pushing the door open and dragging him up the stairs.

They entered her dark apartment, and she collapsed on the sofa. Natsu smiled to himself.

"Come on Luce. I think it's bedtime for you."

Her next words threw him off completely.

"Only if you come with me."

* * *

 **TBC oooooh ;)**

 **In case anyone was wondering what song they're dancing to, a contender is the Neighbourhood's Sweater Weather; catchy and quick at the start, with a total beat breakdown at the end. Damn that song is sexy.**


	9. afterparty time

**Chapter 9 at last!**

 **Found this difficult to write at points- less plot to fall back on (I have lots planned for the next chapters!). But please let me know what you think so I can improve :)**

 **This is where the M rating becomes relevant!**

 **As always- hope my story makes you happy.**

 **Don't own Fairy Tail oh nooooooo**

* * *

"What?"

Natsu said intelligently.

He stood stock still, gazing across the darkened room to the girl who was now stood up, silhouetted in front of the window. Her face was in shadow, and she was poised on the balls of her feet, nervous, like she was about to move at any second.

"I said…" she paused for dramatic effect. "Only if you come with me."

Natsu opened his mouth to say 'what' again, but thought better of it and closed it. His mind kicked into high gear, whirring with possibilities and probabilities. He wasn't sure what was going on. Just a week or so ago, she'd been so shy, so nervous because of her inexperience. And now here she was, asking him to bed with her. Wait, what if she didn't mean what he thought she meant? What if she just wanted him to like, tuck her in? Her voice, fuelled with the determination of the drunk, broke through his thought train.

"Let's have sex."

Ah. Ok. So she _did_ mean what he thought she meant.

He found his voice, and was furious with himself for the hoarse croak he managed to produce.

"Uhhh, Lucy?"

She was stalking across the room towards him now. He found himself backing up instinctively.

"Lucy, I think, maybe, you've had a bit too much to, mmmph!"

Lucy had cornered him a metre from the door, grabbed his head and pulled downwards, kissing him firmly on the lips.

All coherent thought went out the window. Natsu tasted sweetness on her lips, stickiness from whatever drink she'd last had which he considerately lapped away for her before delving deeper into her mouth. He pushed aside the tiny angel with pink hair on his shoulder that was yelling at him that she was possibly so inebriated she wouldn't remember this the next day, giving full rein to the pink haired, fire breathing devil on his other shoulder, telling him to shut up and go for it.

"Natsu," Lucy broke away for long enough to say, breathily. He twisted her body round and pushed her up against the hard wooden door, with an audible thud.

He swallowed her gasp, left hand roaming down past her waist to her right thigh, which he recklessly grasped and pulled her leg up around his hips.

Her blue skater dress hitched up slightly, revealing even more creamy skin. His hand cupped the underside of her thigh, supporting it, and he moved his touch backwards until he reached the sensitive part underneath her knee.

He felt her shudder, all through her body, which was flush with his. His erection nestled in the juncture of her legs, they both began to move in time with each other, maximising the pleasure of their contact.

He was starting to feel drunk himself, on the heady sound of her moans. Every signal from her told him she wanted more. One of her small hands raked through his pink mop, stinging with good pain whenever she grabbed the strands in the ecstasy of a particularly well-placed thrust. The other encircled his back in an iron grip, refusing him to create any space between their heating bodies. Natsu's pleasure receptors were sent into new highs when that hand suddenly dropped to his butt, grasping it firmly, trying to control the up and down movement of his hips and pull him closer to her.

He swiftly pulled her other thigh up and hooked her left leg around his waist, so now she had both feet off the ground, supported by the door at her back, and him at her front. He started moving against her faster. Their lips were still locked, tongues tangled in a sensuous dance, guttural groans rising from both of their chests. The door started to rattle with their fervour. The bangs and knocks reverberated through Lucy's body, heightening her sensations while she was helplessly held by Natsu's arms.

He broke away from her lips and dived for her exposed neck. Her head arched back, silky hair falling over his face as his licked her skin.

"Oh my _god,"_ she moaned, eliciting deep male satisfaction in him at his ability to please her.

His lips left her throat and he placed them close to her ear, nipping her earlobe lightly. "Lucy," he growled softly, his hot breath causing her to shiver with desire. She bent her head next to his, whispering into his own ear. "Natsu…"

The feeling had him lifting her up and away from the door. He carried her, long legs wrapped around his waist and her head buried in his neck, with a few strides towards the bed.

She gasped loudly when he deposited her on it.

Without pausing, Natsu climbed on top of her. He hovered over her beautiful form, taking a moment to gaze at her deep, expressive brown eyes, vaguely registering that this was the first time he'd ever been on a bed with her.

The anticipation was clearly too much for Lucy.

She pulled his body downwards decisively. He landed on her heavily but without hurting her, one jean-clad leg between her bare ones. He dully realised she was still wearing her shoes, and in fact, so was he.

"I'd guess you have a no shoes rule in bed," he said to her, breathing hard and grinning as he sat up.

She looked back at him from her position lying on the bed, eyes wide and liquid. "True," was the only thing she managed to say in return.

He eased off his high-tops and socks, and looked at the smooth grey suede of her high-heeled knee-high boots. They made her look incredibly sexy. She was still lying down, though she propped herself up slightly to look at him, her dress ridden up so much he could almost see the tops of her thighs. He slowly ran a hand along one calf, the suede so soft it could've been her actual skin, before reaching the zipper and drawing it down. He remembered when she'd done this herself in front of him, and he relished the chance to be the one revealing that flesh. Underneath was a shimmery nearly black stocking, invisible beneath the boot but now evident, clinging to her curved leg teasingly. He removed the other boot and just stared at her legs. He'd thought they were sexy in the boots, but he had to revise his opinion; those semi-see-through stockings were turning him on beyond belief.

She gracefully raised herself up so she was kneeling on the bed, legs apart. His eye level was now her chest level, and he couldn't help but think she'd done that on purpose. He looked up at her face, and his expression was one of wonder. Wonder that she was so gorgeous, that she was so fantastic, that she wanted to be with him in this way.

"You look like a lost boy," she said, giggling a little. "It's really cute."

"Cute?" he queried, slightly affronted. "Oh, I'll show you cute."

He climbed back up to kneel in front of her on the bed, and pulled her against him again, sending a jolt of white-hot desire through both of them on impact. He felt her smile through his kiss, even as it grew more frenzied, as they wrestled for dominance. His hands found her way to the hem of her skirt again. She broke off contact with his lips temporarily.

"Do you want to…" she started. She let go of him, and raised her arms a little bit. He needed no further encouragement, and pulled the dress off over her head in one swift movement.

What he saw took his breath away.

Lucy Heartfilia in front of him, kneeling up on her bed, knee-high stockings on, wearing lacy white panties and a matching white bra. She was incredibly beautiful- from her rounded hips and trim waist, to her swelling breasts, the little heart charm necklace she still had on, the uncertainty on her lovely face. Her blue dress dangled from his hands as he stayed there, speechless. She fidgeted a bit with her hands under his stare. He caught them, pinning her wrists, still looking at her intently.

"You're unbelievable." He said simply. As if stating a fact.

Her mouth quirked up a little at one edge. "So are you," she said shyly. And then she smirked a bit. "You know, this is a little bit unfair…" she tried to gesture between them with her trapped arm, and Natsu got her meaning.

Releasing her wrists, he asked cheekily, "you wanna do the honours?"

She unbuttoned his shirt with hesitant hands, and ran them along the planes of his bared chest. He had no problems returning the favour. He started at her tiny waist, and worked his way upwards across her smooth tummy, reaching the underside of her breasts.

She sucked in a breath when he cupped them.

"Sounds like you like that," Natsu murmured without thinking, shocking himself at his forwardness. She let out an incoherent whimper in response. His body's reaction was instantaneous, a bolt of excitement running straight to his groin. He decided that he very much enjoyed eliciting that sort of behaviour from Lucy.

He leaned forward until he lay on top of her again, mouths meeting in ever-increasing passion. His palms were still full of the soft, warm weight of Lucy's breasts, hands trapped between bodies, but he couldn't care less about the awkward position. He boldly skimmed his fingers underneath the hard wire edge, meeting nothing but more plump, pliant flesh.

"It sucks you have to wear these things," he broke away to comment. He hadn't quite meant the implication that went with it, but Lucy turned beet red all the same, visible even in the ethereal moonlight that cast almost everything in black and white. Nervously, she sat up a little.

Natsu almost couldn't believe what he was seeing. Before he could think too much into it, his arms slipped behind Lucy's back, and found the clasp of her bra. Mentally thanking the universe that he knew how to do this, and praying that he didn't mess it up and end up looking ridiculous, he pushed the two ends together.

Lucy's breasts spilled out of their white lace confines. The limp material of her bra lay tantalisingly on top of her, blocking Natsu's view. She stared up at him, cheeks on fire. Gently, he bent down to kiss her. In doing so, he coaxed her slightly upright, and slipped the straps off her shoulders.

She was magnificent. Natsu's jaw dropped in awe. Lucy crossed her arms over herself in panic.

Natsu just kissed her again, long and hard. Her arms, crushed slightly between their bodies, fell away, and they were left with the delicious feeling of bare skin on skin. The sensation was indescribable, and Natsu felt desperate for more. Lucy clung to him like she was drowning, and her legs parted slightly so his jean covered ones settled fully between them. He felt her thighs clamp on to his side, signalling how much she loved the contact.

He broke away from her lips to rain kisses on her neck. Her mouth was now free to make the mewling sounds he loved so much, but nothing prepared him for the sounds that were to come. His mouth worked its way down, lingering on her collarbone, and he shifted his entire body to accommodate his path. Lucy sighed a little at the loss of contact and the cool air now washing over her chest. Her complaints were silenced completely however when Natsu reached her breasts. His tongue licked out, warm and wet on her chilled skin, growing ever closer to the most sensitive part there was.

She cried out when he latched onto it. Natsu relished the taste of her, the sound of her, the way she writhed underneath his ministrations. One palm cupped her other breast kneading it gently, and the other hand found hers, where their fingers intertwined.

"Natsu!" Lucy gasped in shock and wonder.

He released her, and clambered back up to kiss her lips. "Did you like that?"

She hesitated before nodding, and he returned an evil grin. "Want more?"

Her mouth fell open slightly. She blinked rapidly, and through the haze of lust and desire, Natsu thought he noticed some kind of doubt in her eyes. But it was gone just as quickly as he saw it, when she pulled him back down, meeting his mouth once more.

As she kissed him, her hands roamed down to their hips and edged in between them.

"Lucy… oh, _shit."_

Now it was his turn to be incoherent. Lucy was finally touching the part of him that begged so much to be touched, and even through the thick denim of his jeans it felt amazing.

His breath hitched and he slowed when her hand found his waistband. Hovering for a second, it slipped inside.

All of his senses imploded when her hand encircled his erection. Her grasp was slight, nervous. He was no longer kissing her; just supporting his body on top of hers, facing her, eyes screwed tight shut as the wave of pleasure rose.

"More," he bit out, unable to articulate what he wanted from being so insanely stimulated. He felt her tiny hand grow firmer.

"Yes," he hissed, and bucked his hips forward. Lucy made a startled noise, making him open his eyes.

He looked down into her face, which was looking uncertainly back at him. He bent down to kiss her again, which she returned, but not with the same abandon as before. Natsu was finding it hard to concentrate; she was still touching him, and all of his instincts were screaming at him to roll his hips forward again, and ride the pleasure he'd only just gotten a taste of. But Natsu cared too much about Lucy to let instinct overtake him completely. With extreme difficulty, he stopped himself, and focused on her.

"Luce?" he ventured, after a pause.

She cleared her throat a bit. "Yeah?"

His heart broke at how vulnerable she suddenly seemed. His head was starting to clear slightly now, and he realised that they'd gone way further than anything they'd done before- and for Lucy, this was the farthest she'd _ever_ gone. Alcohol had given her the recklessness to initiate this situation, but now that effect was wearing off, and fast. Her eyes were averted now, directed somewhere away from him. He could sense the conflict in her.

"Hey, Luce. Look at me."

She turned her head back to him slowly.

"You know, we don't have to keep going, if you don't want to," he said to her extremely gently. He kissed her forehead for emphasis. She was trembling.

"But… I said… that I wanted to…"

"You know, you _can_ change your mind," he reminded her, smiling down at her.

"I.. I know. But, I don't want you to be… disappointed…"

Her voice cracked on the last word, and Natsu was filled with alarm.

"Hey! Hey, don't be sad!" he said frantically. "Oh, shit. Listen, Luce, there is no way in hell I could ever be disappointed. So don't even say that. Don't even _think_ that. Ok?"

He heard her sniff slightly. "Really?" her voice was harsh with held back tears, and Natsu was doing his utmost to make them never fall.

"YES. Lucy- you are amazing."

She smiled a little bit, and encouraged, he continued.

"Also, the reason I enjoy this so much, is because _you're_ enjoying it. I love making you feel good."

She really smiled at that.

"That's sweet," she managed to say.

"I'm a sweet guy," he said jokingly. "So… you ok?"

"Yeah," she said, in a more relaxed tone.

"Also, Lucy?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you maybe, let go of my... erm, let go of me now?"

Red as a dying sun, Lucy released the hold she hadn't even remembered she had, and the two of them looked at each other for a moment, before bursting into warm, cathartic laughter.

…

Natsu slept in till early afternoon the next day. He yawned comfortably in the dull winter light that pushed apathetically on his window blinds, listening to the rain beat down outside. It was definitely a day to spend indoors. The rain had started a little while after he'd gotten back from Lucy's; he'd walked back in the bitter cold, thankful for his warm scarf and coat, but also grateful to the weather for cooling his heated blood. Now he stretched languorously in his warm bed, a familiar ache in his groin as he half-dreamily relived the events of last night. His imagination was embellishing his memories quite happily without much input from conscious thought.

"NATSU, ARE YOU IN THERE?"

A loud banging sound broke him out of his reverie. He groaned in annoyance and covered his head with a pillow.

"NATSU DRAGNEEL I WILL BREAK DOWN THIS DOOR."

A voice was shouting through the door. It was loud. It was brash. It was… manly?

"Elfman?" Natsu questioned blearily, as he rolled out of bed with a thud. He crawled towards the door and managed to stand up long enough to open it. On the other side were a very wet Elfman, a wet and disgruntled looking Gray, and a somehow not wet and looking like he'd just stepped out of an Armani photoshoot Loke.

"Morning. Or should I say, afternoon," Loke greeted casually.

"Why… are you here." Natsu said.

"Don't ask me," Gray muttered. "Elfman basically dragged me out of my room like a half hour ago. I know we made lunch plans, but dude, it's POURING. And I left Juvia back there!"

"So? I left Evergreen in her room. Why do you think I was in your building anyway?"

"She's going to kill you."

"Worth it!"

"WHY? WHY IS IT WORTH IT?" Natsu interrupted irately.

The three of them turned to face him in unison. Elfman looked excited, Gray looked annoyed, and Loke just looked like a male model.

"Because you're OFFICIALLY THE MAN!" Elfman announced enthusiastically, getting out his phone and typing in it (it seemed impossible a man his size could handle those tiny keys) to display something on his screen and jam it in Natsu's face.

It was Lucy's online profile.

 **Life event: Lucy Heartfilia is In a Relationship with Natsu Dragneel .**

Natsu's whole demeanour changed. He couldn't help it. His face lit up like a firework, as his whole being was flooded with happiness. The post already had dozens of likes and comments from friends, everyone being supportive of the brand new couple.

"Hey," he finally said, when he found his voice. "Cool."

Elfman drew him into a bear hug, and Loke gave him a congratulatory pat on the back. "Can we go to lunch now?" was all Gray said.

Natsu grinned and nodded, then slammed the door on all of them so he could get changed.

Just before leaving, he jumped on his laptop to update his status.

 **Life event: Natsu Dragneel is In a Relationship with Lucy Heartfilia.**

* * *

 **TBC! Yay!**

 **Sorry this chapter wasn't too long but lots of plot to come!**


	10. christmas with the dragneels

**Hi readers. I'm so sorry to have left this story so long! I do have plans to keep going until it's finished so I hope you'll stick with me.**

 **This chapter's a little unseasonal but hopefully you won't mind :) either that or wait till December to read it lol.  
**

 **Thanks for reading!**

* * *

Natsu surveyed his dishevelled-looking room, searching for anything that may have escaped his notice. The holidays were finally here. St Makarovs made any students living in the college accommodation move out every vacation to make room for conferences, so Natsu had spent the morning throwing items into boxes and suitcases, leaving the already utilitarian room looking even more bare.

"Whoops, almost forgot this," he muttered, as he spied his spare blanket tangled in the college-owned duvet. He extricated it from the folds, its softness reminding him of the last time he'd really used it; Lucy's warm limbs millimetres away from his own underneath the cloth, the tension rising between them and his heartbeat picking up…

He grinned a little to himself as he deposited the blanket in another box.

Lucy rang the doorebell downstairs around lunchtime. Natsu pressed the button to buzz her in and opened the door wide, smiling happily as she came into sight. She had a long coat on to combat the cold but clear weather, her cheeks a little flushed from the temperature. Natsu was always almost taken aback at her attractiveness and frequently found himself wondering how he was with her.

"Hey!" she greeted, pulling him into a hug in the doorway. He drew back a little to give her a gentle kiss on the lips, which she returned warmly. "Ready to go?" she asked as she broke away.

"Absolutely."

He pulled a coat on (even he wasn't immune to the weather) and slipped a hand into hers. She'd forgotten gloves again. As they exited, she pushed their still joined hands into his coat pocket to share the warmth, offering him a cute smile.

They made their way past many other students as well as Magnolia's other residents as they walked into town, all in a festive mood. Christmas decorations were up everywhere, and the shops were full to bursting. They were headed to the same diner they'd shared pancakes at for a late brunch before they parted for the holidays. Natsu had learned that Lucy lived with her dad near a town called Hargeon, just under two hours journey from Magnolia, and like most other Makarovs students, she'd made plans to visit home.

"How's your packing been coming along?" he asked her casually as they approached Quattro Café.

"Actually… I haven't done anything."

Natsu let out a bark of laughter. "For real? That is SO unlike you, Luce."

She smiled at that. "You forget, I live in a rented apartment- it's not college owned, so I don't have to move out completely."

She dropped her gaze and took a breath before she continued. "To be honest though, the reason I haven't packed at all is because… I'm not going home."

"What?" Natsu asked in confusion. "But why? Luce, you were so excited!"

She sighed. "My dad called yesterday. Turns out he has to go abroad over Christmas, you know, business. He left this morning. Said it was really urgent."

She sounded quite despondent, and Natsu could sympathise. She hadn't seen her dad in a good few months now, he always seemed to busy to visit her here in Magnolia. She'd been psyched about spending Christmas at home, telling Natsu all about her family traditions. Since her mum had passed away when she was a child, she and her dad had had a strained relationship for a while; before reconciling. Now even though he travelled a lot, their Christmases were often just the two of them, cooking dinner together and having movie marathons. Natsu had to admit, it sounded a lot more peaceful than the chaos of his own family.

It was then that the lightbulb went off. Slowly but surely, it flickered to life in Natsu's head.

"Hey Lucy."

"Mmm?"

"Come spend Christmas with me."

She stopped and turned to face him in surprise.

"What? Seriously?"

He laughed. "Yeah seriously! Come over. You know my family lives in Magnolia too. They're just the other side of town."

"But I don't want to intrude on your family's time-"

"Don't be a moron, we'd LOVE to have you."

"You can't just speak for them!"

"Fine, I'll confirm with my mum tonight. She's gonna be ecstatic to have a guest. And to meet my girlfriend, of course."

She blushed a steady red. "Oh my gosh. Woah. Er- you're sure your parents won't mind?"

"I told you, they'll be thrilled! Please come Lucy. Pleeease?" He hit her with his best puppy dog eyes. He could see it working. She was caving. "You can't spend Christmas alone."

"Oh… fine."

Natsu whooped and picked her up by the waist, giving her a wild spin right there on the street.

"Natsuuuu people are looking!" she squealed in embarrassment.

"Only in jealousy," he clarified, setting her down. "Anyway, I'm gonna make sure you have the best Christmas ever. You'll see."

…

The fun started on Christmas Eve. Natsu had insisted Lucy come over for this occasion as well as Christmas itself, and even cheekily suggested she sleep over. Lucy had shot this down quite decisively. They hadn't even spent the night together in their own rooms, let alone staying in the same house as all his family.

She rang the doorbell at precisely half past six, feeling unpleasantly nervous. The sky was already dark and the streetlamps had winked on on Natsu's family's street. It was located fairly far from St Makarovs University as well as Magnolia Tech, in a more residential part of town, with its own mini shopping district safe from the mayhem of student campuses.

"COMIINNNGGG" came a loud, muffled female shout from behind the door. There were a number of crashes and yells from various voices swiftly following, ("GET THE DOOR" "I AM GETTING THE DOOR" "Ouch, Happy, don't sit there!" etcetera, etcetera). Lucy listened with growing alarm, but just then, the door swung open- warm light spilling outside and enveloping her, along with the scent of something incredibly delicious baking.

Lucy blinked in the sudden light at the slightly out of breath silhouette at the doorway.

"Hi!" panted the silhouette. "You must be Lucy."

As her eyes adjusted, Lucy took in the short frame and long, deep blue hair. (Did everyone in this family have crazy hair? She questioned internally.)

"I'm Wendy- Natsu's sister!" she continued cheerfully. "It's so nice to finally meet you. Here, come on in!"

Wendy led her into the cosy hallway, bedecked in haphazardly placed tinsel and fairy lights. The yells she'd heard from outside showed no signs of abating; she could hear Natsu's voice distinctly, along with a woman's and a deeper man's. They seemed to be getting closer.

"Hello! You must be miss Heartfilia!" boomed the deep male voice as its imposing owner burst into view from an inconspicuous doorway.

"Oh, I- yes, I'm Lucy!" Lucy gathered her wits to try and make a good impression. "Thank you so much for inviting me to your home-"

"LUCE!"

Natsu barrelled into her out of nowhere and lifted her bodily, swinging her round, and totally ruining her attempt at formality.

"I'm so happy you're here Luce! I see you've met dad, and Wendy!"

Lucy wobbled as she got set on her feet. "Erm, yes, I suppose I-"

"Call me Igneel!" Natsu's father said heartily, shaking her tiny hand in his relatively large one. He was tall and broad, with red-brown hair and an easy smile.

"Igneel, are you terrorising our guests again?" The mature female voice also gained a face as a white-haired woman (looking far too young to have naturally white hair,) emerged from what was supposedly a kitchen.

"Don't mind him dear. I'm Grandine, it's so lovely to have you."

"Thank you," Lucy went for a smile which she thought she probably pulled off when the entire family grinned manically back at her.

 _It's so different to home,_ she couldn't help thinking, as Natsu's parents resumed their loud discussion- something to do with dinner.

"I'm gonna take Luce on a tour of the house," Natsu announced, grabbing her hand.

"Alright, but the food will be out soon- make sure you're down in ten minutes!" his mother warned, as she pushed Igneel towards the kitchen.

"C'mon, I'll show you my room," Natsu said eagerly. He'd been looking forward to seeing her all week and having her meet his family. And there was no harm in getting her somewhere alone, either… He pulled her up the stairs that led up from the entrance hall, Wendy bounding up after them.

"See you in a few!" she called as she disappeared into a bedroom with anime posters on the door.

Natsu continued to pull Lucy up another flight of stairs to the second floor. He pushed a trapdoor in the ceiling to open out to his room.

"This is so cool!" Lucy exclaimed as her head popped out from the floor.

His bed was in the middle of the converted attic; with sloped ceilings and low hanging wooden beams, it was a wonder he hadn't given himself a concussion from walking into things all the time, but he had to admit they gave the place character. He'd tidied earlier on, so the floor was pretty clear and a bookshelf in the corner had been divested of picture books, stocked instead with intellectual novels he'd raided from the shelf downstairs, newly polished sports trophies displayed proudly atop it. He was suddenly very conscious of his Pokémon bedspread and tried to move unsuccessfully to obscure it from view.

"Oh my gosh, your cat's up here!" Lucy suddenly squealed in delight.

He turned round to see she was indeed correct. He sighed mentally. There was nothing quite like a kitten when it came to being a massive cockblock.

"Wanna say hi?" he said instead, going to the corner and scooping Happy up. He was a long haired kitten with black fur, so dark it was almost blue, and he mewled mildly to protest at being manhandled so.

"Awwwwww," Lucy cooed, the most stupid grin on her face he thought he'd ever seen. "Sho adorable!"

She lifted a hand to pet him tentatively, allowing him to sniff her finger disinterestedly first.

"He's quite sleepy," Natsu commented, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Lucy followed without hesitation. Maybe the cat was useful after all. "He's usually not nearly so polite. Are you, Happy?"

The kitten meowed, irritably. Lucy let out another helpless "awwww".

"I'll put him back in the basket," Natsu suggested. He got up to do so, and to his annoyance, realised Lucy had gotten up with him.

"I like your posters," she commented, as she wandered round the walls, perusing them.

He snuck up behind her to hold her round the waist. "I like you," he murmured in her ear.

She laughed. "Shut up," she said affectionately, turning round in his arms.

He kissed her, deep and long, holding her tight against his body. Her voice created one of those familiar, involuntary "mmmms" that sent electricity to his core.

"NATSU!" came a shout from downstairs. "DINNER!"

Oh for crying out loud.

"COMING!" he pulled away from Lucy long enough to shout in response, then promptly slammed her back into his body with a fierce continuation of their kiss, causing her to make an "mmph!" of surprise.

She tried to detach herself after a minute. "Shouldn't we go down?" she asked breathlessly.

"It's never ready when they say it is," he replied casually and tried to pull her in again.

"I don't want to make a bad impression," she implored, nudging his shoulders a bit.

"Oh _fiiinnnee,_ " he relented with a long-suffering sigh.

"I'll just get my stuff- eek!"

This last yelp was a result of an insouciant Happy wandering past the foot of the bed, causing Lucy to lose her balance and fall straight onto it.

"You ok?" Natsu asked in concern, attempting to help her up- only for Happy to _actually_ trip him up so he landed on top of her.

"Natsu, mum says dinner is- ohmigosh I'm so sorry!"

Wendy's blue head had popped up from the trapdoor at the most inopportune moment. Lucy went bright red.

"It's not- nothing- I, we didn't-"

"Happy tripped us up, Wendy," Natsu grumbled as he extricated himself from the mess, but Wendy was already retreating. "Sorry- just came to say, dinner- uh, come down!"

…

Lucy calmed the flush on her face enough to be presentable at dinner. Wendy might be the weak link though, Natsu thought as he glared at her. The poor girl still looked like she wanted to sink into the ground.

"Natsu, get the plates please," Grandine requested as she pulled something delicious-smelling from the oven. They stood crowded in the kitchen, awaiting tasks to complete, as Grandine put the finishing touches to the food and Igneel tidied up. "Wendy, could you find the nice serving bowls?"

"Could I help?" Lucy asked politely.

"Would you mind helping Natsu laying the table? I don't trust him to do it on his own!"

She went through to the dining room, where Natsu had picked out five completely mismatched plates and was happily arranging them at the table. She was just biting her lip and debating whether to ask if he had any matching crockery, when her phone rang from her coat in the hall.

"Sorry, I'll see who that is," she told Natsu, hurrying outside.

Natsu trailed after her, nosily.

"Hello- Dad?" he heard her say in surprise.

"I'm fine! How are you calling though, aren't you abroad…? … you're in _Magnolia_?"

Natsu's eyes widened at that one, and he stepped fully out into the hallway in curiosity.

"Of course, I would love to, but- I'm actually at, erm, Natsu's house right now…"

She turned around and looked at him uncertainly. He made a snap decision.

Striding towards her and plucking the phone from her hands, (ignoring her "Hey!" of protest), he said to her father, "Hello, Mr Heartfilia? Hi, this is Natsu!"

Lucy kept looking at him, aghast.

"Listen, you should come visit our house! We're in the west side of the city, let me give you our address!"

Lucy continued to stare, stunned, as Natsu rattled off their house number and street name.

"Yes I'm sure, it's absolutely fine! Hold on a sec-"

Natsu let go of the handset to yell towards the kitchen.

"MUM, CAN LUCY'S DAD COME OVER?"

"SURE HE CAN", came the almost immediate reply.

He returned to the conversation. "It's fine! Looking forward to meeting you! See you soon!"

And promptly hung up.

"What. Did. You. Do." Lucy asked him in cold horror.

"I invited your dad round. Ouch! What?" Lucy had poked him, none to gently, in the stomach.

"Our parents? MEETING EACH OTHER? What if they hate each other? This is massive!"

She was looking fairly panicky. Natsu sniggered.

"Relax, Luce!" he said cheerfully, sliding an arm around her waist. "It'll be fine! And if they do hate each other, we can be like that super romantic couple. You know, Romeo and Juliet."

"Romeo and Juliet DIE, Natsu," Lucy pointed out with a murderous glare.

"Hey, what did you want me to do?" he held up his arms in a surrendering gesture. "You were totally just about to blow him off. I couldn't let that happen, if your Dad's here on Christmas, you gotta see him!"

She deflated slightly. "… Fine. But if this goes terribly, I'm blaming you."

"Feel free," he winked at her, and she groaned but couldn't help smiling back.

…

About a half hour later, the doorbell rang. Grandine had delayed dinner now that she knew they were getting another guest, so the food lay out in a spectacular fashion, tantalisingly on the table (which had indeed been treated to some matching dinner set plates- Natsu's contribution hastily replaced.)

"I'll get it!" Natsu jumped up from the sofa, Lucy hurrying after him.

"Hi!"

Natsu swung the door open enthusiastically, revealing a tall man carrying a very oversized yule log cake.

"Dad!"

Lucy arrived behind Natsu a second later, and pushed past him to give her father a hug.

"Lucy!" he said warmly, balancing the cake with extreme difficulty.

"I'll grab that if you want," Natsu said quickly, coming forward to help him with it.

"Thank you. That's for you, and your family. I'm very grateful you invited me to visit."

Jude Heartfilia finally let go of his daughter and appraised her. "You're eating well? You look lovely, dear. I hope you haven't been working too hard."

"I'm fine, dad," she laughed, rolling her eyes a little. "Let's go in, Natsu's parents and sister are here too."

The family had emerged from the sitting room to greet him, now seemingly prepared for a guest reception and looking the picture of formality.

Igneel came forward to shake Jude's hand. "How do you do? I'm Igneel, it's good to meet you…?"

"Jude," he responded. "Thank you for having me, and my daughter."

"Check out this massive cake," Natsu highlighted helpfully. This gift endeared Jude to the Dragneels quite significantly- if there was a way to their hearts, it was with food.

"You didn't have to!" Grandine said in a pleased tone, taking the hefty thing from Natsu's arms. "I'll pop it in the kitchen, dinner's on the table now so if you're hungry, we'll eat!"

…

Dinner was going pretty well, Natsu thought. So far, no hideously embarrassing things had been said by either parental faction, and even Wendy had managed to keep it together. In a few moments, he realised why.

"Wendy. Are you messaging under the table?" Grandine asked sternly.

"Oh- sorry," Wendy apologised, blushing.

"Who was it?" her father asked with interest.

"…no-one," she said unconvincingly.

"I bet it's that guy you like. Romeo, isn't it?" he supplied, helpfully. Wendy shot him dagger glares from across the table, while Grandine and Igneel looked vaguely alarmed.

"How old are you, Wendy?" Jude asked kindly, hoping to diffuse the growing sibling feud.

"Sixteen," she replied, with strained politeness, diverting her attention away from revenge on her older brother.

"I remember Lucy at that age," he chuckled. "Always pretending to me that she didn't have any crushes. I caught her texting under the blankets so often when I went to wish her goodnight and she'd keep denying it."

Lucy spluttered. "I- did not!"

Jude just gave her a look.

"So what is it you do Jude?" Igneel asked, digging into his third plate of roast chicken. "Something crazy that keeps you travelling over Christmas!"

"I'm an investment banker," he told them, a little ruefully. He was still in fact in his expensive work suit. "I like the travelling, but this was too much. I was there just for the week, then it got to the 23rd and I decided, no- I needed to spend Christmas with my daughter. So I took a flight straight back!"

He finished this with an affectionate gaze at Lucy, who seemed to have not quite forgiven him for his earlier embarrassing comment.

"Tell him what you do, dad!" Natsu said proudly.

"I'm captain of the city fire response department," Igneel explained. "Used to be one of the juniors of course, running around and on call at all hours. Now I get to manage 'em instead, though I still have to be on site!"

Jude and Lucy looked suitably impressed.

"Mum's a professor," Wendy piped up, perhaps in an effort to get back into her parent's good books. "At Magnolia Tech."

"I didn't know that! What do you teach?" Lucy asked her.

"I'm a fluid dynamicist," she smiled. "Airflow, mostly. It's quite a sought after field- lots of money in it, but I decided to go into the least profitable job I could get; academia!"

"Lucy does astrophysics. I told you that, right?" Natsu supplied.

"It's nice to see another woman in science," Grandine said encouragingly.

They fell into conversation swapping stories about being girls in such male dominated fields, as Natsu got up to clear the plates. He was, after all, on his best behaviour in his attempt to impress Jude. Plus (he congratulated himself) he'd been pretty shrewd inviting him over; this way, his parents couldn't grill Lucy too much in front of her dad, and more _importantly,_ Jude couldn't actively look for Natsu's flaws. This strategy so far looked to be going very well. The conversation had been neutral, the adults getting along nicely.

He should've known it couldn't last.

"Natsu, could you fetch the dessert while you're there?" Grandine called from the kitchen.

"Sure, mum!"

He'd almost forgotten his signature move to top off the evening. He knew Lucy had a sweet tooth, and though he was usually hopeless at cooking, he had one specialty dish he knew she would be impressed by.

"Who wants crème brulée?" he announce with pride as he re-entered the dining room, balancing a tray of cream-filled ramekins.

Five faces looked up at him, with mixed expressions. Surprise (Igneel), worry (Grandine- she'd given him the ok before, but was now sincerely regretting it), guilt (Wendy- she'd been texting again), disbelief (Lucy), and interest (Jude).

"I know you said you'd do the dessert today Natsu, but Jude did bring cake, maybe we should…?" Grandine ventured.

Observing how Natsu deflated, Jude quickly stepped in. "No, not at all, that was a gift for you; please, open it on Christmas!"

Natsu perked up again. "Great! I'll get the blowtorch!"

"BLOWTORCH?!" Lucy echoed, but Natsu had already sped out.

"The finishing touch!" he added, as he came back in, wearing oven gloves and a deranged grin.

Everyone simultaneously leaned back from the table a bit.

"Don't worry, I've done this loads of times!" he assured his (literally) captive audience.

"Doesn't mean you've been successful every time," Wendy sniggered, as Natsu carefully fired up the torch.

"I'm not the one who set fire to the tablecloth," he replied, smirking, eyes still focused on sugar layer he was gradually crystallising on top of his first creation.

"Oh please." Wendy addressed the rest of the table at this point. "He only decided it was a good idea to try and create his own flaming cocktail, and turned his blowtorch on a glass of frickin _whisky._ "

"I was like, fifteen!" he replied with irritation, now on his second bowl.

"I remember that," Igneel said, forlornly. "That was some really expensive whisky…"

"You'd think a family with a fire department captain would be more careful about setting fire to things," Jude joked nervously.

"I think that seems to make them more lax about it, they know Dad's around to help," Grandine replied, sounding strained.

"What do you mean _them?_ Natsu's set fire to way more stuff than I have!" Wendy protested.

"Oh what was that?" Natsu interjected. "Didn't here over the sound of your _boyfriend_ texting you."

"Hey! At least I'm not falling into bed with him."

"You WHAT?!" Jude, Igneel and Grandine simultaneously cried.

"Hey!" Natsu's concentration wavered as he looked up in alarm. "That is NOT what it sounds like!"

"Onto. I meant onto!" Wendy amended hastily.

Lucy had gone white as a sheet, her mouth open in an O of horror.

"Natsu."

"Huh?"

"You're on fire."

"I'm- OH SH-"

The smoke alarm started wailing loudly, mercifully drowning out the swear that may have reduced Jude's estimation of Natsu even further.

"Hold your arm out," Igneel commanded quickly, already out of his chair and having grabbed the fire blanket from the wall. He swiftly pulled the burning glove off Natsu's hand and smothered it efficiently, the flames dying without much fight. The guests around the table were left looking shell-shocked as the alarm continued to beep.

"That's going to leave another burn mark in my tablecloth, isn't it," Grandine said sadly.

" _Another_ one?!" Jude and Lucy couldn't stop themselves from saying.

And then the sprinklers went off.

…

"I can't apologise enough," Igneel said again, worriedly hovering around Jude and Lucy as they dried their hair off with the Dragneels' towels.

"That was some quick work, by the way," Jude mentioned, referring to Igneel's heroic save.

They were all trying to drown out the obvious sounds of Natsu and Wendy being yelled at in the kitchen/dining room where they were of course clearing up.

"…I'm holding YOU responsible for this TOO Wendy, don't think you didn't provoke him, I mean REALLY, SHOUTING at each other, in front of GUESTS…"

Wisely, no one had tried to point out the irony of this to Grandine, who really seemed like she was on a roll.

Jude cringed. "Er… so. Er, Lucy and I, had better, get going... it's late, and it's a long drive back to Hargeon…"

Lucy looked at him in surprise. "We're going to Hargeon?"

"Oh. If- if that's ok? I took the time off, and I thought, maybe we could have Christmas, as we do, but if you've made other plans-"

"Sounds great, Dad," Lucy cut him off with a smile. She turned to Igneel. "Mr Dragneel, I do hope you don't mind? I know I committed to you earlier…"

"Not at all. Well be sorry not to have you, but you should absolutely make use of your holiday time to visit home!"

The yells from the kitchen continued to drift into the hallway where they stood.

"…Sometimes I wish Natsu wouldn't, though."

Jude and Lucy laughed. "Well then Lucy, let's be off" Jude said. "We've still got the company car so I don't have to do any driving!"

"Alright. I'm just going to say goodbye to Natsu."

Igneel had departed for the kitchen, supposedly to inform his son that his girlfriend was leaving.

"Lucy!" he came skidding out. "Listen, I'm so so sorry, I completely ruined your evening."

He looked dejected. Jude tactfully shifted himself out of earshot and out the front door.

"Natsu, don't worry about it." She smiled. "Nothing bad happened, right? You're not burned, are you?"

"Me? I'm fine. Dad says I've had so many accidents, I'm fireproof."

She giggled a bit. "I'm really happy you invited me and dad round. It means a lot to me."

He held is breath as she stood on tiptoe to give him a sweet, short kiss on the lips.

"Oh, before I forget- I got you a Christmas present!"

Despair fell to the depths of Natsu's stomach. "I… Luce, I didn't get you anything!" It didn't occur to him to try to lie, not when she was holding out a gift-wrapped parcel so eagerly.

"That's ok, I didn't exactly spend any money on this! Well, unless you count printing credits… open it tomorrow, ok?"

She gave him a final hug, before turning and bounding down the front steps.

"Merry Christmas, Natsu!" she waved.

"Merry Christmas, Lucy!"

He grinned like a maniac as she got into the waiting car and disappeared into the cold, dark night.

"NATSU YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED CLEARING UP SO YOU BETTER GET BACK IN HERE NOW!"

Yes, he thought, closing the front door dreamily. This had been his best Christmas Eve ever.

…

 **Later, in Natsu's room**

"Let's see what she got me, Happy!"

Natsu plonked down on his pokemon bedsheets, gripping the parcel with excitement. He looked at the clock.

"12.17. It's officially Christmas!"

He tore open the gift wrap, revealing a pile of A4 papers.

"Earthland – by Lucy Heartfilia. Chapters 1-3."

"Happy!" He sat up excitedly as he realised what she'd given her. Her most prized and personal possession. "It's her book!"

The kitten was sound asleep in the corner.

Natsu settled back into the pillows, flipped open the first page and began to read.

* * *

 **TBC!**


End file.
